The Return of the Samurai
by KantoShanto
Summary: Ikuto's gone, meaning Amu's not stuck in some convoluted love triangle anymore, right? Wrong. Now an old friend has returned to claim what he believes is his, her love. Tadase however won't go down without a fight, turning the friends into rivals instantly. Meanwhile, the relationship between Rima and Nagihiko seems to be going great, until three words flip it all upside down.
1. His Intrusion

**(Thank you very much for clicking on my SC Fanfic, this is my very first fanfiction I've EVER written. So please don't bash me too horribly. I'm not going to be making this into a one shot, and I will continue to make chapters even if I don't get immediate reviews, since I know some people sometimes just don't like to critique other people's work. This starts around a week after the end of the manga. So... Yeah! I hope you guys enjoy.)**

"Ah, Utau. Nice to see you again."

"Hn? Oh, you. You're Yukari-san's little brother, I saw you at the wedding."

"Yes, I'm Kairi. Kairi Sanjo."

"Don't you live in Otaru? Why would you be back here in Tokyo?" She observed the boy, he seemed to be just younger than she was, though he had some kind of confidence around him, reminiscent of herself.

"I _lived _in Otaru, I convinced my parent's to allow me to move back here with my sister. My class elected a new class president, so they no longer need me either."

"Alright then... Wait, why did you come here then?"

"I thought Yukari would be here, considering this is her office."

"Well, she's not. She went off with Nikaidou earlier. Going to some amusement park."

"Alright then, thanks anyways."

"Yeah."

The wind greeted him as he opened the front door of the office. Yukari had upgraded it since Utau had gained more popularity, she was constantly hitting the top ranks in the songs, even though she was only a 7th grader. "I guess I shouldn't say only a 7th grader, considering I'm only a 5th grader." But that was enough about Utau, he had someone he wanted to see. For that was the main reason he had traveled across the country, and uprooted himself once again.

"You look so cute with that pendant, Amu."

"R-Really? I just picked it out of my closet at random, Tadase-kun."

"I guess she did, if random means obsessing over which one to choose for over an hour." Miki's voice came from her bag.

"M-Miki!" Amu picked up her bag and started shaking it. "I told you to stay quiet!"

"A-A-A-Amu-chan..." Su's voice now shakily came out. "S-S-Stop shaking the b-bag.."

"You can let them out Amu, I don't mind." Tadase spoke up awkwardly.

"N-No, they're fine Tadase. Really." She set the bag down, and smoothed her skirt

"Alright then... Now where were we?"

"Oh, you were just telling me how cute my pendant was..."

"That's right... By the way, Amu."

"Eh?"

"I love you." He still kept that promise he made a year ago, yet she still turned scarlet whenever he said it.

"As do I." A familiar voice sounded from behind them.

"EEEEEEEH?" Both of their head's shot back, to see a tall figure looming over them.

"Why hello there, Amu, Tadase."

"K-Kairi!?"

**(Sorry that's it's short, and if it's bad xD. You guy's are probably expecting me to tell you how this story is going to go, but I'm not telling a single thing, as I know you guy's hate spoilers :P. So this is chapter 1, review if you want to, or don't if you don't :D. Either way, if you loved it or hated it, I appreciate the view either way.)**


	2. The One Important Question

**(The 2nd chapter is already here! :P. I can't stop writing, even if it's not the most polished as it could be. As of this, I have around 5 different views in total, and no reviews, but the thought that five different people have read my story is urging me on. So yeah, here we go.)**

"K-Kairi?!" They were equally shocked, not only by just his presence, but how he had made his presence known.

"King, Joker." He responded calmly

"W-Why are you here in Tokyo?" Tadase asked. He had virtually forgotten about Kairi, who had confessed to Amu first. Now he was here, and was already challenging him for Amu.

"I convinced my parents to allow me to move back here with my sister."

"But what about your class? They were one of the reasons you moved BACK to your hometown." Amu now spoke up, she remembered Kairi's feelings for her instantly, and a mixture of guilt and self-awareness set in,

"They no longer need me, they elected a new class president." An awkward silence set in, Tadase and Amu were obviously trying to process everything that had come crashing in so quickly. "Perhaps I should've introduced myself in a more timid way..." Kairi thought, before he noticed Musashi floating next to him.

"You can't expect them to take this so lightly, Kairi. They've obviously developed into a couple in your absence." His chara murmured.

"You think I can't see this, Musashi." He muttered back. "I'm sorry if I've intruded on something" He spoke that aloud, even though he wasn't really sorry.

"Well... We were just on.." Tadase started to say something, yet he trailed off.

"They were just on a date!" Ran shouted out, as she squeezed herself out of the latched opening of Amu's bag. "And you're intruding, Kairi. You too Musashi! You can't just expect to whisk back into the picture and leave off where you left off."

"I didn't mean to, I was just expres-"

"Tadase and Amu-chan are happy! No interfering from you is welcome!" She interrupted him, flustered.

"R-Ran..." Amu watched her athletic would-be self arguing with the 5th grader. "Kairi isn't inter-"

"Amu-Chan! You can't just allow him to ruin your date!" Ran shot back at her owner, flustered. "Now you need to leave, both of you!"

"There's no need for Kairi to lea-" Tadase started, only to be interrupted by Kairi.

"No, I _should_ leave, I'm sorry to intrude on your... Date." The final word was almost painful to say, as he started to walk away. "But." Tadase fixed his gaze on him. "This is just the start, Joker." He didn't wait for a response, but instead kept on walking, until he disappeared from sight.

"Ran... Why did you have to say all of that...?" Amu asked softly. For whatever reason, she felt a wave of sadness on her. Was it that she felt bad for Kairi? No...

"She was just trying to help, surely.." Tadase tried to diplomatically defend Ran, he actually appreciated the way she had spoken up. Yet Kairi had confessed first... Was his relationship some sort of a violation of a romance code? He and Amu had become a couple... But would Amu and Kairi be together if _he _hadn't interfered? "Amu?"

"Hm?" She barely looked up at him.

"If you and I weren't together..." He had caught her attention now. "Do you think that you would be with Kairi-Kun?"

"I-I.. Hadn't really ever thought of it... Maybe? He's been away for an entire year, so I only think of him as a returned friend.."

"I see..." Tadase closed his eyes for a few moments, before he stood up. "Well, I think it's time that I get going. I'll see you later, Amu." He said goodbye as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"Alright... Goodbye, Tadase." She watched him leave, her mind whirling. "If... Tadase and I weren't together... Who would I, if anyone, be with..."

(**And that's the second chapter! I hope you enjoyed, the next one will probably be coming tonight. R&R if you want! :D)**


	3. Fate, Skipping Grades, and Ace

**(First things first, Shoutout to my very first follower, Rei Star! I was going to wait a little bit until I wrote the third chapter today, but seeing that I had a favorite and follower, I've instantly dived right back into the story.)**

"That... Didn't work out, did it, Kairi?"

"No it didn't, Musashi. I guess I expected her to return my feelings instantly. Hotori stole her away while I tried to make myself suitable for her. He's not as honorable as I once thought. But honor or not, my entire reason for moving back to Tokyo, has been shredded into a million pieces." His confidence had dimmed, and he walked slowly along the sidewalk, his eyes staring at the ground.

"Kairi, a true samurai does not give in when a first attempt is unsuccessful. What you said to them is true, this is only the beginning of your fight for her."

"I suppose you're right.. So Sis's apartment is down the s-"

"CLASS PRESIDENNNNTTTTT!" A loud, familiar voice sounded from across the street.

"Ace...?" He turned, to see Yaya running right at him.

"Kairi-San! Yaya is so surprised to see you! Why are you back here in Tokyo?"

"W-Well... I convinced my parents to allow me to re-enroll into school here."

"Eeeh? Where are you enrolling?"

"Oh... Fu... Fuju Jr High."

"WHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTT? You got to skip two grades!? Yaya is shocked!"

"Well, my parents insisted that if I was going to leave my private school, that I try to challenge myself here."

"Oh... Wait. You said Fuju Jr. High?!"

"Mhm. Why?"

"Well, Fuju Jr. High is where everyone else enrolled!"

"Everyone else?" "Does she also mean.." The thought trickled in, was he really this lucky?

"Yep! Nagi, Rima, Amu, and Tadase! They all enrolled so they could be together." She was still talking in her iconic, loud voice.

"So Amu-chan's in my school again... Fate is seemingly in my favor." He murmered to himself

"Hm?"

"Oh, nothing. Anyways, it was nice to see you, Ace." He nodded, before stepping past her, continuing down the street.

"Class president gets to skip two grades... Why can't Yaya skip grades just like class president does..." The Ace Chair pouted quietly to herself.

"Because you got a D+ in Math~ dechu." Pepe-chan floated up next to her.

"Sigh... Yaya's going to get an A in Math this year Pepe! Then Yaya can skip grades and be with the entire crew!"

"I wouldn't be so sure about tha-"

"YAYA IS GOING TO GET AN A!"

"This isn't going to be fun... ~dechu."

**(And that's chapter 3! :D. Sorry to those who hate really slow starts. I'm trying to make this a gradual story, I have so many ideas and I don't want to just thrust them into your faces. Anyways, I appreciate all of the views! :D.)**


	4. Decisions and a Rumor

**(It's Chapter 4 already. I really can't stop writing these, can I? While I'm not going to be relying on reviews, I do appreciate them if you guys don't mind writing them :P. Anyways, here we go.)**

"Beh..."

"Still thinking of Kairi-Kun Amu?" Miki prodded her owner.

"I can't get him out of my mind... He WAS the first one to confess to me, but I completely forgot about him once Tadase and I got together. I feel terrible now, it's like I just threw him away."

"But he'll find other girls!" Ran objected. "You and Tadase are already so happy! He shouldn't be able to take away from that happiness Amu-chan!"

"I know we're happy..." She sighed as she laid back onto her bed. "But I just can't get it out of my mind, _who_ would I be with if I wasn't with Tadase..?" She thought to herself. "_Nagihiko, Kukai, Ikuto, Kairi...?" _"Kairi... Wait. Why did all of those boys come up!? Nagihiko? Kukai? What am I thinking!?"

"This is to be expected, Amu. You ARE the heroine. And the heroine has to have many different love interes-" Miki began.

"I don't love any of them!" She exclaimed wildly. "None!"

"Are you sure..?" Miki looked slyly at Amu. "I wouldn't be so sure about that, Amu."

"Miki! Get over here!" She reached to grab the small artistic would-be self, but instead ended up face-planting onto her floor. "Ow..."

"You know, Amu." It was now Su who spoke up. "I think Miki's right. You wouldn't be questioning anything right now if you didn't love someone else even a little bit."

"You too Su...? Even if I DID love one of them, which one would it be?"

"Well... Let's list what each one is like, and then you can pick out which one sounds like you'd want to take on a date the most." Su suggested

"Alright then..."

"Well, there's a cat-boy, a cross dresser, an athletic guy who already has a girlfriend, and an honor freak who wants to be a samurai. So which one sounds like the right person, Amu?" Miki looked down.

"Why did you have to make all of the choices sound so... Horrible.." Great... So these were her choices of the boys she was in love with.

"S-Sorry, I just described them in the way that first came to mind."

"You must have a really bad impression of people.."

"I guess she picked it up somewhere." Ran giggled.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Hahaha..."

***Transition***

"Hn? Kairi? As in the former Jack?"

"Yes... You replaced him."

"And? What about him?"

"Well... He kinda.."

"Mm?"

...

"EH!? He confessed his love for Amu before he moved back to his hometown!?"

Tadase sighed, "That's what I just told you, right?"

"And he interrupted your date?" Nagihiko had put his cup of tea down, his concentration was fully on this topic.

"Mm.. He waited until I told her I loved her, and then he said 'and so do I.'"

"Wow... So it looks like you actually have a rival for her now, at least one that's in Japan."

"You're referring to Ikuto-Niisan, right?"

"Yeah, he kissed her before he went off on his journey, right?" He still remembered how Utau and Tadase had reacted, hilariously.

"Don't remind me.."

"Sorry."

"Anyways, Ikuto's not a threat anymore for her. But Kairi is, a serious one at that." Tadase didn't have his normal, prince-like aura around him, this Kairi situation had stressed him out. "Everything's been going perfect, too. I was even going to try to kiss her on the next date, but now there's been a wrench thrown into the entire situation."

"I see... I think I'd feel the same way if I was in your situation."

"If someone was to get in between you and Rima?"

"Beh!? Me and Rima?" Nagihiko almost jumped out of his chair. "Rima and I don't have ANYTHING going on."

"Keep telling yourself that, Nagi."

"I'm serious!"

"Mhmm..."

**(Alright, That's the end of chapter 4! Sorry for the little "transition" thing, Fanfiction doesn't like spaces between lines. I hope you all enjoyed! I'll be cranking out even more chapters tonight, so be prepared! :D.)**


	5. Sensei Has Spoken! I am the King!

**(Chapter 5 is here! Shoutout to my second follower, Heartshapedquill. I can't stress enough how much even two followers means to me, so I'm going to keep on churning these chapters out all night long. Enjoy!)**

"Sissssss, I'm home!" Kairi called as he closed the door behind him. Silence greeted him in return as he flipped the light switch on.

"It appears she's not home from the amusement park." Musashi remarked, looking around at the familiar yet strange room.

Kairi sighed as he plunked his luggage against the end of the couch. "I just realized that I'm going to be sharing this space with Nikaidou-sensei... To think that I thought it was small before."

"So what are you going to do until she gets back?"

"Wait, I suppose. Watch some T.V." He reached for the remote, and hit the red power button.

"I AM NOBUKO SENSEI!" The sound blasted from the T.V's speakers.

"B-Beh!" He fiddled with the remote, hitting the down button repeatedly until it went to a reasonable volume. "She sure is loud..."

"You there! Yes, you, viewer! You're hung up in a battle for someone's love, correct?"

"Eh?" He listened intently to the fortune teller.

"Kairi, you can't believe such non-"

"Musashi! I'm trying to listen."

"You just have to be patient. If you push them too quickly, they'll shy away from you. THAT IS WHAT I HAVE PREDICTED!" Music started to play, with a voice telling viewers to tune in next week.

"Patience... I just have to wait everything out. Alright.."

"So I just have to wait this whole situation out." Tadase stood up. The irony of how Noboku-Sensei's advice seemed to mold so perfectly with his current situation. "I won't try to make any big moves in the relationship, I'll just try to maintain it. Then..." He paused. "Amu-chan will choose me."

"Tadase... Have you gone to such desperation that you're going to listen to the advice of a fortune teller?" Kiseki asked, annoyed at how Tadase was handling this entire situation.

"It can't hurt, can it Kiseki?"

"It actually can."

"I suppose you're right. Maybe I should just stay like I am..."

"That's right! You are the king! You have the ultimate power over these minions!"

"I wouldn't go that far-"

"Prince." Kiseki smirked, this would bring out Tadase's true character.

"Eh? P-Prince..." A small crown popped up onto the crown of his head, and a smirk came onto his face. "I AM NO MERE PRINCE! I AM THE KING OF THE WORLD! ALL SHALL BOW BEFORE ME AND KISS MY KINGLY FEET! HHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA!" With that, the crown popped off of his head, and Tadase looked over at Kiseki annoyed. "Please don't make me Chara Change on purpose, Kiseki..."

"Alright... Prince."

"KISSSEEKKIIIIII!"

**(End of Chapter 5! :D. Chapter 6 is coming up soon.)**


	6. Ramen Challenge, and a Headstart!

"Two bowls of ramen, with soy sauce please."

"You're going down this time, Kukai." She nudged him. He was on a hot streak, 9-5.

"Oh really now?" He nudged her back. "Not a chance, Utau."

"Mmmmhmm. Just keep on talking. While you're busy hyping yourself up, I'll actually be _eating." _

The cook gave the pair their bowls, and they started to count down in unison.

"5"

"4"

"3"

"2"

"1"

"GO!" Kukai grasped his chopsticks, and started to instantly stuff the noodles down his throat. "_Utau doesn't have a chance, I've been practicing for this for the last few days, going to take my fifth win in a row."_

"Done." Utau smirked as she set down her chopsticks, and turned to him.

"Wha... I'm not even half way done.."

"Guess you're just losing your touch, kid."

"Oh, that's the third time today. Penalty time." He leaned over and kissed her, he had lost the challenge, but this was great compensation.

"You'd think I'd remember that after we've been together for a month now."

"Quit acting as if you _don't _remember."

"H-Hey!" She grinned. No one had made her this happy other than Ikuto in a long time. "_Ikuto... I wonder how close you are to finding him."_

"The feeling of love is in the aaaaaiiiirrrrr. Looooovvveeee" El sung as she floated around the two.

"First, I have no idea how you're also Utau's Shugo Chara, you can't sing a single note. Second, even I can see that they're in love, we don't need your radar for this one." Il teased the silly angel. "What's next? You're going to tell me the sky is blue? And the ocean is wet?"

"Love is not to be taken lightly Il!" El shot back. "They're so different, yet they have such a strong bond!"

"Opposites attract, I guess."

(**Transition!)**

****"T-T-Thank you for inviting me here to the park, T-T-Tadase.."

"She's more nervous than ever..." Su whispered to Miki.

"She's waiting for Kairi to show up and ruin it all." Miki murmered back.

"No problem, Amu-chan. We are a couple, after all."

"Y-Yeah... We are..." An awkward silence set in, neither one sure of what to say. "_I don't want to bring Kairi up... But can I honestly avoid the subject?" _Her mind whirled with the multiple different thoughts flowing through her head.

"You're thinking about Kairi, aren't you?" Tadase said it casually, he had somehow read her thoughts.

"W-What!? N-No..."

"It's okay, Amu. I'm thinking about him too."

"You are?!"

"He is?!" Amu's four guardian characters whispered amongst themselves.

"Yes, I am. He feels the same way for you that I do. That's not something that you can ignore, right?"

"R-Right... But he hasn't even seen me in a year..."

"Love is timeless, Amu. Even though I see Sanjo-Kun as a rival, I completely understand where he is coming from."

_"A rival? So they're both rivals, for me?" _The thought was both flattering and disturbing at the same time. Here she was again, the center of a conflict between two boys. And this was the _second _time Tadase was involved. The silence set in yet again, but this time it seemed that Tadase was thinking more than wondering what to say.

"This will be an interesting rivalry, Amu."

"Y-Yes..."

"Let me get a headstart though." He leaned over on the bench, and kissed her.

**(Ah, a good ending for a chapter. So this was an obvious Kutau and Tadamu chapter, I figured you guys would like a chapter to give the story a bit of spice. See you in the next chapter! :D)**


	7. Movie Time!

**(Chapter 7 is here for you! I have to thank everyone yet again for all of your views, From the United States, to Australia, and even Malaysia! I would've never guessed that I'd have any viewers whatsoever, nontheless ones from overseas.)**

"Kairi!"Yukari dropped what she had in her hands, which was a giant stuffed panda and her purse. "I've missed you..!" She grabbed him in a sort of bear hug, and swung him side to side.

"T-Thanks sis... I see you've kept the house up."

"For the most part. Just don't go in the hallway closet."

"Why? Is that where you hid all of the junk when you found out I was coming on short notice?"

"H-How'd you know..." She looked at him with a mixture of amazement and embarrassment

He sighed, "Looks like I'll be cleaning up after you again."

"Hey! The stuff I put away was Yuu's! So you'll be cleaning after HIM, not me."

"It's still the same mess..." Musashi muttered.

"Oh well, I guess I should be glad that she's cleaned up her act, no pun intended." He commented to himself. "Hey, speaking of Nikaidou-sensei, where is he?"

"Oh, Yuu had to go grab the groceries, said he'd be back in an hour." She replied as she picked up the giant panda bear off of the floor.

"An hour for groceries..?"

"That's what I said." She sighed. "He's not the fastest at errands, but at least I'm not doing the work!"

"How are we related... We have such different work ethics." He asked as he leaned against one of the walls.

"Well, I am your sister..."

"I know, I didn't mean it literally."

(**TRANSITION)**

"Thanks for inviting me, Rima." Nadehiko greeted the petite girl.

"It's just a movie, nothing to be so excited over." She responded quietly.

"But I get to spend time with you."

"I don't think the excitement of hanging out is mutual. I still view you as a cross-dressing boy who deceived Amu for an entire year. So you're actually kind of creepy."

"Harsh..." Rima was still getting onto him about the whole Nadehiko/Nadeshiko situation. Then again, Amu wasn't exactly talking to him, so Rima was actually being the nice girl in this situation.

"So what do you want to see?" Rima had reached for the little bag strung around her shoulder, and had started to pull out 1000 yen bills.

"O-Oh... What about _'A flower in the deep'_?"

"Really? You want to see such a girly movie?"

"W-Well-"

"I'm kidding. Lighten up." Even though she told him to lighten up, she said it in a small and quiet voice.

"_Doesn't seem like I'M the one who needs to lighten up, but I guess she's right. After all, that's why I have Rhythm." _He'd left Rhythm and Temari at home, this was his time alone with Rima. The least thing he needed was to hear Rhythm's constant "Yay's!" as he tried to make a move. _"I feel so uneasy right now..." _

"Nadehiko. Nadehiko... NAGI!"

"Eh!?"

"Here's your ticket... Don't start spacing off, I don't want to imagine what you're thinking about."

"_Okay... Is this girl some kind of mind reader?"_

_"_Nope, I'm not."

"EEEH?!"

"What?" She turned her head. "He asked me if I was a premium member, I'm not. Are you?"

"O-Oh... No... I'm not."

"Okay then..." _"He's obviously so nervous about something." _The thought came through clearly. _"I wonder what it is... Whatever it is, he's making himself look like an idiot." _She led him down one of the halls, and into the showing room. "Now, try not to yell out this time. Where would you like to sit?"

"_It's not like I'm an idiot..." _ He thought to himself grudgingly. "Let's sit in the middle."

"Alright then." She replied monotone-like.

"_I have 2 hours and 7 minutes worth of movie ahead of me. I have to make a move, and it's going to be in this theatre!" _He thought to himself, the vow had been placed, and the vow would be fufilled.

**(End of Chapter 7! This'll be the last chapter I release for today, I'll leave you guys on a bit of a cliffhanger, you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see whether or not Nadeshiko makes a move, and if Rima accepts it or not. See you all tomorrow! ^.^.)**


	8. The Rivalry's Beginning? California?

"_W-Wha..." _

"Well, Amu. I think it's time for me to go, mother is probably waiting for me." Tadase sat up, adjusting his scarf. "I'll see you later, alright Amu-chan?"

"S-Sure... S-See y-you l-later T-T-T-Tadase." She stuttered, before deciding to shut up until he was out of sight. She watched him go, waiting until she could no longer see that blue scarf, until she spoke. "GUYS!" She clumsily grabbed the bag, undoing the latch on the top.

"What is it Amu..." Ran asked, "You keep shaking the bag when you pick it up..."

"Tadase kissed me!"

"EH!? TADASE KISSED YOU!" "MIKI! TADA-"

"I heard her, Ran." Miki floated out of the bag. "This is the start of the rivalry, eh?"

"This is the _start?_ It's the end for me! Nothing Kairi could do would ever make me break up with Tadase after this.."

"But you're the heroine, there's always romantic drama for the heroine."

"I don't have to be the heroine this time! I can just be Amu Hinamori." She was starting to get flustered, why couldn't her charas just see she was content?

"I dunno about that..."

**(Transition)**

"Donc vous n'avez pas vu?" (So you haven't seen him?)

"Non, désolé." (No, sorry.)

He sighed, he'd had no luck in Paris. "I've been looking here for weeks, maybe it's time I move on." The question was, where? There were hundreds of countries that his father could've gone, and thousands of cities within those countries. "_The States? I can't imagine that he'd fit in there... But then again, he was always talking about taking a trip to California... Heh. I'm coming for you, Aruto." _He tucked a photo into his back pocket, and grasped the handle of the white violin case. "_California... Here I come..."_

**(Transition)**

"Class president get's to skip two grades... Yaya's all alone now." Even though a day had passed, Yaya was still pouting about Kairi and his grade-skipping. "Yaya has to do all the work, and Yaya still has to be a grade behind everyone else.."

"Don't look at it like that!" Pepe tried to cheer her owner up. "You're the head figure in the Guardians now!"

"Which means I have to take responsibility for what the younger ones do.. Sunohara, Tomoya, and Nagisa. Sunohara and Tomoya are 3rd graders, and Nagisa's a 5th grader. They're all younger than me..."

"But that means that you have power over them! You get to give them orders!"

"Give them... Orders?" Yaya stopped, and tilted her head at Pepe. Then an evil grin came onto her face. "That's right... Yaya gets to boss everyone around!"

"I didn't mean it like tha-"

"YAYA IS THE RULER OF THE GUARDIANS! EVERYONE HAS TO DO WHAT YAYA SAYS!"

"N-No.. Yaya-Chan-"

"See you Pepe! Time to go order around some 3rd graders!" She had regained her normal peppy self, even if it wasn't for the right reason.

"I have a bad feeling about this... ~dechu."

(**There's the end of the chapter! Sorry to change views three times, I wanted to get in a little bit of Ikuto and Yaya, while wrapping up Amu and Tadase's date. The next chapter's going to be mainly, if not all about Rima and Nagihiko's movie trip. So stay tuned it! ^.^.)**


	9. The Moment of Truth!

(**How is it Chapter 9 already? These chapters are so fun to write, I just can't stop! ^.^)**

The room became dark, and previews advertising the newest, shiniest items played continuously.

"W-Well, this is going to be interesting, right?"

"Do you even know what this movie's about, Nagihiko?"

"Is it about a flower... In deep water?" He took a random guess.

"Such an answer is expected of a simpleton."

"H-Hey! I'm not a simpleto-"

"She was kidding!" That was the familiar high pitched voice of Rima's Chara, Kusu-Kusu. "Heheheheheh."

"You brought Kusu-Kusu?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"_That's not a very good sign." _"I-I don't know, I figured she wouldn't want to come."

"Hmph."

"_Why does this remind me of when she first transferred here..." _She seemed to have her old coldness back, which wasn't a good thing.

"Unless you want some quiet time with Rima, Nagihiko. Hehehehheehehehe."

"H-Hey!" They both said in unison.

"Hehehehehehehehehe."

Rima grabbed the little clown, ignoring it's protests, and stuffed her into her little bag. "Even _I _know when enough is enough." She smiled, and turned her attention to the screen.

Nagihiko did the same, though he realized he still had no idea what this movie was about. "_For all I know, it's an action movie. No... She said it was 'girly' so is it a romance... A romance..." _Was fate smiling upon him, considering he said the first movie he remembered? "_I doubt it though, I'm not THAT lucky." _ The movie itself was pretty simple, it was about a girl who gets lost deep in the forest filled with talking trees, who try to help her to get out. "_Not a romance... Meh." _He looked over at Rima, to see her looking so focused on the screen. "_She sure is into it.."_ He turned back to the screen, to see a new character, a tall kid his age.

"So that's... Patrick." He heard Rima murmur.

"Hn? Who's he?" He whispered to her.

"Haven't you been listening? It's the boy she has a crush on."

_"You. Gotta. Be. Kidding."_O-Oh.. Him. That's right." _"So it IS a romance... Wow. I guess I've been paying too much attention thinking about what I'm going to do instead of watching the movie.." _"H-Hey Rim-"

"Sh!"

"I want to tell you some-"

"SH! I'm trying to listen." She interrupted him again.

"I'm trying to tel-"

"SHHHHFAH." She nearly flipped out this time.

"_I guess this is the climax of the movie... Wait, why does she even care? She likes comedy, not romance. I guess she wants to see the movie she paid for..." _He discreetly checked the time on his phone. _"C-Crap! I have thirty minutes left in this movie!" _He looked back at her, it was like she was in a trance. "_Of all times for me to work up some courage, it's now..." _He sat awkwardly for the next 10 minutes, watching as her crush lead the girl out of the talking-tree forest. "_The climax is over, the shock of his appearance has worn off. Now's my chance." _

"R-Rima.." He whispered, waiting for her to cut him off mid sentence.

"Hm?" She looked over at him.

"I-I was wondering..." "_It's now or never, Nagi." "_If we could come here again-"

"Sure, why not?" She had assumed he was done with his sentence, dead wrong.

"As more than friends." He finished the sentence

She looked confused, so he gathered up the rest of his courage and said it again. "I was wondering if we could come here again, as more than friends."

She got it this time. He saw how she looked at him, surprised. "I..." She didn't say anymore, instead she took off out of the chair without another word.

"_W-What..." _He tried to say something, anything. But he realized, he'd pushed her too far, too quickly. "_I've screwed up... Bad."_

**(DunDunDuuuunnnnn. So Rima didn't accept his advances. Don't worry, all of you RimaHiko fans, all's not lost for the couple. I literally have no set plot, I'm going with the flow of how I write. So we'll see if they end up together or not. Now, I'm going to let one of you guys pick who, or whom you want me to write about in the next chapter. Any of the characters I've included so far are eligible, So either tell me in a review, Or PM me. Cheers!)**


	10. The Courage of a Samurai

**(Alrighty, the character who was requested was Kairi. So here he is in Chapter 10!)**

"Why are we here in the park again Kairi?"

"I told you Musashi, I'm trying to find Joker alone." He answered quietly. "I'll approach her if Tadase isn't with her, but I'll steer clear if he is. That's why I'm sneaking around."

"You've let yourself go down to the level of snooping around, Kairi. Why don't you just look for her casually?"

"Casually? I... Hadn't thought of that."

"You seem to make things more difficult than they really are." His chara sighed. "A true samurai uses the most effici-"

"There she is!" He pressed himself against the back of a bush, and looked up briefly. "He's not with her, she's just sitting alone on the bench talking to her Guardian characters."

"Then why are you still hiding..."

"Because I don't know if he's just gone to get her something! I can't interrupt another one of their dates, no matter how much I want to. I'll come off as arrogant." A minute passed, and Amu was still sitting alone. "_So she's really and truly alone... Time to move." _He got up in a crouching position, and sneaked his way onto one of the park's pathways. "_Now it looks like I just came along."_ He ordered his legs to move, which they did in some kind of robotic fashion. As he got closer, he noticed she was in a serious conversation with all of her characters. "H-Hello Joker!" He called, and he saw all five of them look in his direction, followed by a shocked look on their faces.

"E-Eh!? O-Oh... Hello, Class President." He noticed that her face was a bright red, and that her Charas were staring intently at him.

"_Is she blushing because of me?" _"Do you mind if I sit?"

"N-No! Not at all." She was definitely flustered about something.

He sat down, and closed his eyes. "_I'm sitting next to her for the first time in an entire year." _

"S-So... Welcome back to Tokyo!" Amu was trying hard to make some kind of conversation. "You're going to be enrolling back at Seiyo, right?"

"No."

"Eh? You're not? Where then?"

"Oh, I'm enrolling at **Fuju Jr. High.**"

"W-What!? T-That's where-"

"You're attending, I know." He looked over at her. "We're going to be classmates, Amu."

"B-But.. You're two years younger than me! You should be in 5th grade!"

"My parents arranged it so I could skip two grades."

"So you skipped two grades so you could be in my class..."

"No, I had no idea that I was attending the same Jr High School as you, that's just fate, I suppose." He adjusted his glasses, and a smile came over his face. "Do you remember what I said to you when I left for my hometown, Amu?"

"N-Not exactly."

"I remember it exactly, 'Hinamori, I love you. Always and forever, I love you. I will return for you when I find myself to be suitable.'" He paused, it was one of his most vivid memories. "I've come back, Amu."

"Kairi..." She felt herself feeling more and more guilty for forgetting all of this. "I-I'm sorry, but-"

"But Amu's happy with Tadase!" Ran had apparently gotten tired of remaining silent. "She's happy happy happy! Why do you have to take her happiness away!?"

Kairi brushed the chara's insults off. "I'm not going to back off like I did last time, Ran." He locked his gaze with the tiny would-be Amu, "_Nothing will get in my way of Hinamori Amu. Nothing." _

"Ran, I think you need to just stay silent for now..."

"But Amu!"

"Silent." She murmured. "Kairi... I truly appreciate your feelings for me, but I don't think we can... Work."

"I will make us work!" He shouted. His calm had evaporated so quickly, turning into a desperation. Amu didn't answer him, she stared at the ground. "I'll show you, Joker. I will win your love from Hotori." The confidence he had built up had left with his calm, and he whispered the end of what he had to say.

"I... Promise."


	11. The thoughts of the Clown

**(Chapter 11! I'm already in the double digits. I wonder how many chapters I'll make in this story, I think it will be hard for me to end it xD. No idea why I'm talking about the end though, this is just the beginning! Review if you want, they really do pump me up a lot more than I thought they would. Oh, almost forgot. When there are 's around a sentence, that means that the character is speaking English. They're otherwise speaking Japanese. Enjoy!)**

"Alright passengers, we will be arriving at Los Angeles International Airport in five minutes, please make sure all seatbelts are fastened."

"_Five minutes..." _He opened his eyes, and looked out the window. A mix of different houses were below them. "_Aruto Tsukiyomi, father. I will find you, and return you to where you belong..."_

**(Transition)**

"_I would've never thought that he felt that way..." _What just happened was insane. "I feel terrible, I had no clue..." Rima murmured to herself.

"Rima!"

"What..." She looked at Kusu-Kusu.

"Bala-Balance!"

"Meh."

"Aw..." Kusu-Kusu had tried every single pun in the book for the last half hour. "Why is so bad that Nagi likes you, Rima?"

"Because I don't like him back..."

"R-Really? That's hard to believe."

"What do you mean by that, Kusu-Kusu?"

"Well... Everyone kinda thought you had a crush on him.."

"_Everyone!? _As in who?"

"Oh, you know... Tadase, Amu, Yaya, Kukai, and even Nagi himself."

"I'm so going to kill Amu and Yaya..." She muttered to herself.

Kusu-Kusu started to pull on Rima's sleeve. "Cmon! Sulking in your room isn't going to help anything."

"I like to sulk."

"Sigh... You've given me no choice."

"No choice, what do you-"

"Character Change!"

"H-Hey!" She paused for a second.

"Rima?"

"BAALLAAA-BALLLAAANNCCEEEEEE!" She shot out of the bed, before the little clown face that had popped up disappeared. "What'd you just make me do..." She grabbed Kusu-Kusu. "Don't ever do that to me again. Ever."

"Okay... But don't you feel better?" Kusu-Kusu squeaked, Rima's grip was made of iron.

"Heh... I guess I do... Still doesn't get you off the hook."

"C-Can I atleast.. Urgh. Get out of the grip?"

"I don't kno-"

"PLEASE."

"Fine." She let her Guardian Character go. "Even if I do feel better, I still don't know what to do with Nagi."

"Do what you think you should do!"

"I just said I don't know Kusu-Kusu..."

"You have to get a boyfriend eventually Rima! You can't grow up alone, and no other boy's have been interested in you since Kirishima-kun."

"That was only a year ago." Kirishima, the now popular basketball player who she had turned down because she couldn't see herself having a boyfriend so young.

"A year's a long time Rima! Nagi's such a nice guy too!"

"Nice guy, he disguised himself as a girl for the first 12 years of his life, deceived us all, and then tried to come back as that girl's twin brother."

"You can get so critical sometimes Rima..." Kusu-Kusu sighed. "But think of his good qualities!"

"Good qualities... He can shoot a basketball. Got anything else."

"Gaaaagh. Rima! Be more positive!"

"Maybe later."

"You're a mess..."

**(End of Chapter 11. After I spiced things up, I'm going to settle everything back down. The next chapter will probably be Nagihiko's view after all of this. See you then!)**


	12. Yes Yaya-Sempai!

**(Chapter 12! After Note: Everyone wants to know the chairs, So here they are: Yaya is now the Queen, Nagisa is the Ace, Tomoya is the King, and Sunohara is the Jack.) **

"Alright now! We guardian's can now begin our meeting!"

"Yaya-sempai... Why have you gathered all of us up?" A small boy with bluish hair asked awkwardly.

"Because Tomoya-bozu, summer's as good of a time to learn about the Guardian duties than any other!"

"_She really just called me Tomoya-bozu..." _

"Can we make it quick though...?" A boy with blonde hair muttered, his guardian character next to him. "I have soccer practice in an hour."

"Yeah! Sunohara can't be late again, or he'll get cut from the team!" The small chara piped up. It reminded Yaya of Kukai's character, except for this one wore a jersey and carried around a soccer ball with him.

"Quiet Akito!" Yaya yelled at Sunohara's would-be self.

"Sheesh... She's so loud..." The two muttered in unison.

"You need to be more like Nagisa, Sunohara. She's so well behaved!" She notioned to an older girl with cinnamon colored hair. She had stayed completely silent through this entire time, and only spoke up now.

"H-Hi... I'm Nagisa Nagato..."

"Odd name, they both start with 'nag'"

"You're not the first to say that..." Nagisa's character spoke up, a sketchpad clutched in it's tiny hands

"Ooh! That reminds me of Miki!"

"Miki?" The three all asked confused.

"She's one of the characters of Amu, the former Joker chair!"

"Character's? She had more than one?" Sunohara inquired.

"Yep! She had four in total. Ran, Miki, Su, and Dia!"

"Oooooohhhhhhhhhhhh. Awesome! Can we meet her?" Tomoya asked in awe.

"Maybe! But for today, we gotta get down to business!"

"Alright then, what business, Yaya-sempai?"

"_Ack.. Yaya didn't think of what work we needed to do, Yaya just assumed she would think of some." _"W-Well... The younger Guardian's always get the oldest one a drink and chocolates."

"Eeh..."

"DRINK AND CHOCOLATES!"

"Y-YES YAYA SEMPAI!"

**(And there's the end of this chapter! Sorry that it's short, but one of the reviews wanted to see the new Guardians, so I just decided to write a nice little chapter about them. See you in chapter 13!)**


	13. The thoughts of a Beat and a Dancer

"Nagihiko! You're home! Yay!" Rhythm, being his usual cheery self, greeted his owner in an equally cheery way. "How was the movie with Mashiro-Chan?"

"It was fine Rhythm... Just fine..." Nagihiko murmured as he passed his Guardian character.

"Something wrong...?" He wasn't used to Nagi seeming so quiet.

"N-No... I'm just tired, that's all. It was a long walk to the theatre."

"O-Oh... Well, get some rest then!" Rhythm's cheeryness had dimmed a bit now, and he just floated in place.

"Thanks Rhythm.." He stepped into his room, and closed the door behind him, locking it. "_I still can't believe that she rejected me..." _The thought lingered in his mind, was he just not good enough for Rima? "_I guess my expectations were set too high, everyone made it sound as if she had a crush on me as well." _As if on a cue, his phone rang in his back pocket. "Amu...? Why would she be calling me?" He flipped it open and put it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Nagi! How'd the date go with Rima-chan?"

"Eh!? How do you know that I went on a date with Rima?"

"Tadase told me."

_"Tadase... I'm going to kill you..." _"W-Well..." He tried to think of a way to sugarcoat it, but he decided just to be blunt. "She flat-out rejected me."

"Whaaaaaat? Really?!"

"Yeah.."

"Heh... Well, this is awkward, I'm sorry that I brought it up then."

"It's fine, it's not like my entire world's shattered" "_It's just partially shattered, that's all." _"So how's your situation with Kairi-kun working out?"

"EH!? First, how do you even know who Kairi is, and second, how did you know he was back in Japan AND that he had feelings for me."

"Tadase told me."

"_Tadase... I'm going to kill you..." _Amu thought to herself. "_Giving everyone's secrets away..." _

"Haha, I'm guessing you want to kill him too now?"

"I wouldn't say kill..."

"Mhhmm... Keep telling yourself that. Anyways, I gotta go."

"Gotta go?"

"Yeah, I need to cry in my pillow now."

"Wait wha-" He hung up, and laid back on his bed. "_Mashiro... Is this truly the end...?"_

_"_Something wrong Nagihiko?" Temari floated up from under the bed.

"No... Ah, who am I kidding? Rima rejected me, when I expected her to embrace me with open arms. I guess I'm just a little disappointed."

"I'm sure she'll reconsider, Nagi. After all, girls are great friends with other girls, and you were a girl for 12 years of your life." Temari tried to reassure Nagihiko the best she could.

"That's just it though. Girls are great _friends _with other girls, I want to be more than just a friend."

"O-Oh.. That's right."

"I just wonder how Rima is feeling right now. Kusu-Kusu's probably trying to cheer her up just like you're trying to cheer me up. At least, I think. I guess it might just be me being too optimistic, but I can't accept that Rima has no feelings for me until I hear her say just that."

"That's the spirit, I think.."

"So tomorrow, I'm going to find her again, and I won't let her leave until she tells me, definitively that she won't go out with me."

"I'll be cheering you on, Nagi." Temari said simply, before floating out of sight.

**(And there's your Chapter 13! You'll have to stay tuned it to hear Rima's final answer, it'll be coming up today!)**


	14. The Guest

**(Chapter 14!)**

"Oh, Hinamori-San. Why are you calling me so late?"

"I was just wishing you good night, is that so odd?"

"For you, yes."

"_Ouch... Thanks Tadase." _

"I'm just kidding Amu, but did you really call me to JUST wish me good night?"

"Well... No." She admitted. "Tadase, after our date..."

"Yes?"

"Well, Kairi showed up."

"_Kairi... He's an even tougher opponent than I thought..." _"And? What about him, Hinamori?"

"He said that he'd win my love from you..." She instantly felt regret that she had even called him in the first place, and now she had to sit and listen to the silence that was Tadase.

"I... See."

"He's more serious about this than we thought, isn't he, Tadase?"

"Yes, yes he is. We can talk about this later, though."

"Later? Why?"

"I have a guest over right now." He responded quickly, that guest was eyeing him intensely now. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright then, Goodnight, Tadase."

He hung up the phone, and turned back to his guest. "Yes, my guest, Kairi Sanjo."

"I'm not only your guest, Tadase, I'm your rival." Even though he was younger than Tadase, he had such a strong feeling of confidence radiating from him.

"I won't lose to you, Kairi." Tadase said simply.

"Nor will I to you."

"Isn't it odd how we've gone from being great friends to rivals?"

"Not odd, it's to be expected. After all, we're both in love with the same girl."

"I suppose so.. Would you like some tea?"

"You're offering your rival tea, Tadase?" He looked at him quizzically.

"Yes, you're still my guest, and I treat all guests the same."

"Well, I appreciate it, but I decline."

"Alright then." They sat in an eerie silence, one that seemed as if they were inspecting their opponents.

"You know, King." Tadase snapped his attention to his guest. "I... Told her first."

"Yes, yes you did. But I won her love first, you confessed yours, but I won hers." Tadase responded cooly. "Hinamori-San and I are an established couple. The Joker and the King are together at last."

"Don't you mean pri-" Kairi stopped mid word, he hadn't triggered the chara change. "Hmph. Just be aware of me Tadase, I don't give up without a fight."

"Alright then, rival. You can be on the offensive, I'll be protecting what's already mine. Now," Tadase sat up, still fully calm even after a surprisingly low key, yet heated conversation "Would you like me to show you your room?"

"No, I think I'll stay here for a little bit longer." Kairi answered. "You showed it to me earlier, anyways."

"That's right... Okay, goodnight then." Tadase opened and then slid the sliding door back into place.

_"Defending what's already yours? More like defending what you should've never owned, Prince."_

**_(And the battle has officially begun, the two sides will be battling back and forth with just one objective: Amu's love. Next chapter will be a Kutau chapter, and I think I might include Nagihiko visiting Rima, or atleast a portion of it. See you soon!)_**


	15. Karaoke and Soccer, Seize the Moment!

"Alright Utau, try to score on me!"

"Tell me again, how did you drag me into playing soccer with you, Kukai?"

"Aw cmon! It'll be fun! I went to karaoke with you last night, now it's time for you to do something I'M good at."

"Oh, so you're compensating for your lack-luster performance?"

"Hey! The mic was screwed up!" He called back.

"Mhm, keep telling yourself that." She started to dribble it lightly, before she started to pick up speed.

"_Woah... She's actually keeping control of the ball..." _

"Here... It goes!" She reared back and kicked it towards the goal.

_"No way am I letting her score..." _He dove, hands stretched out to bat the ball away when he realized something. "_It's not even close to going in!" _ Utau had kicked it a good four feet to the left of the goal. "So Utau... I'm guessing you're just having a 'lackluster performance?'"

"Oh shut up, kid." She chided back.

"That's the second time today! Once more and I'll have to punish you!"

"You should really work on your punishments, Kukai." She laughed this time. "I'm going to become a real bad rule breaker soon."

"And I'll be right there to discipline you." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek.

"So guess what we're doing tonight, Kukai."

"Don't tell me... More karaoke."

"Mhm."

He sighed, "Alright, but you better not record me this time."

"Oh why not? It'll be perfect blackmail in the future."

"H-Hey!"

**(Transition)**

He sat and waited. And waited. _"She has to come out of that house soon enough. And when she does, I'll be right there." _Where was he waiting exactly? Right outside the Mashiro Family's gate. There was no possible way that Rima could avoid him once she came outside. He'd already surveyed the entire wall surrounding Rima's home, they were all a foot to tall for her to scale, considering her height and her vertical jump score from the year before. _"Mathematics has finally paid off..." _

__"He's still sitting there, Kusu-Kusu." Rima was watching him from her bedroom window, he was too persistent.

"You should just go out and confront him already Rima!" Her chara tugged at the sleeve of her shirt.

"He'll just assume something and make a fool out of himself the moment he sees me."

"No he won't Rima! Now cmon! You can't run away from your problems."

"Sure, but you can hide in your bedroom from them." She retorted.

"Don't make me Chara Change with you Rima, I will do it and I'll have an entire conversation with Nagi myself using you as my puppet."

"Sigh... You're evil sometimes Kusu-Kusu."

"I know! Hehehehehehehehehe."

Nagihiko heard the front door open, and his head snapped back. _"S-She actually came out! Now's your chance Nagihiko! Take it or stand down forever!" _He flung open the gate, and walked right in front of her.

"Hello... Nagihiko. I've seen that you-" She was interrupted abruptly, as Nagi grabbed her by the shoulders, and kissed her.

(**And that's the ending for Chapter 15! Don't you guys love the Rimahiko cliff hangers I've been making? Don't worry though, Chapter 16 WILL have the continuation of this section in it. I'm taking a 36 minute break, And then I will start writing Chapter 16. So don't leave just yet! Chapter 16 will be up in around an hour!) **


	16. Her Answer, And the result from it

**(And here's the all important Chapter 16!** **Just for a notice, This is a little bit shorter than usual, but I did that on purpose. ^.^.)****  
**

"Rima... Please... I love you, I truly do. Please, tell me you love me." He spoke in a quiet and kind voice

"_I've never seen him looking so serious..." _"I-I'm sorry, Nagishiko... I just can't return your feelings.." She murmured to him softly. "I-I'm truly sorry." She looked up at him, his eyes, normally filled with a cool and cheerful tone, showed how just a few words had completely shattered him.

"I-I'm not good enough..." He was destroyed, there was no optimism. Mashiro Rima was not in love with him. "I'm just not good enough for you, M-Mashiro-san.."

"Nagihiko..."

"I-I'm sorry... For all of this. I knew it. I shouldn't have even tried!" A wave of grief was hitting him repeatedly.

"It's not that bad, Nagi.."

"Don't tell me that everything is okay Rima!" He stared her right in the face, a mixture of anger and pure sadness was racking his entire mind. "I-It's not... It's not okay..." He turned without another word and ran, ran as fast as he could, his eyes blurring.

"I.. I..." She couldn't say more, the realization of what she had done was setting in. Her longtime friend, someone who had done so much for her, had confessed his love towards her, and she had crushed it without hesitation. "_What... Have I done..."_

He slammed the door behind him, keeping his stride up the stairs and into his room.

"Nagih-" Something was wrong with their owner, it was evident to both Temari and Rhythm.

"Everything I hoped for... Everything that I dreamed for... Has been destroyed." He murmured to himself, laying down on his bed. "She doesn't like me.. Why would she? All I am is a boy who can shoot a ball into a hoop, and can dance like a girl. That's all I am... Just a boring boy..."

"Nagihiko.." Temari murmured, before she looked over at Rhythm. "Rhythm! What's wrong?!"

"N-Nothing..." The chara was clearly in pain, and his blue egg formed around him, fully encapsulating him.

"Rhythm...?" Temari poked the egg nervously. The cheery would-be self of Nagihiko didn't answer her, but she noticed that the baby blue was changing to pure black. "N-No.. This isn't what I think.." She looked back at Nagihiko, he was still muttering to himself, clearly distressed. Rhythm's egg had turned completely black, and the final change to it had been made. On the front was a big white X...

**(DUNDUNDUDNDUDNDUDNNNNNN. Cliffhanger for you guys. The next chapter may or may not keep going with this, we'll just have to see :3. See you then!) **


	17. Not Just an Ordinary X Egg

"Rhythm!" The small dancing would-be self of Nagihiko watched as the now X'ed Egg of Rhythm floated up into the air, and then through a wall, into the outside world. "W-What should I do...?" She looked back at Nagi, he had sat up on the corner of his bed, but his mind was somewhere else, his mutterings continuing. "_Who's the closest to us...? Rima! But he slammed the door when he came in and I sure can't open it myself." _She scanned the room, until her eyes came onto the window, which was halfway open. "_That's right... He stared out that window for an hour this morning, thinking. I guess he just never closed it." _She took one last look at Nagihiko, before she ducked through the opening, taking off for the Mashiro home.

"So he actually _did _make an assumption when you came outside..."

"Mhm..." "_I would've never guessed he would take it so hard..." _That was the thought that was sticking in her head. "I guess- Eh? Temari?"

The small dancer had nearly floated into the window's glass. "Rima! Open the window!"

"Should I trust her, Kusu-Kusu? She IS after all one of Nagihiko's Guardian Characters." Rima murmered to her own chara.

"Of course! Temari's still MY friend, even if Nagi's not yours!"

"Alright then... I better not regret this, Kusu-Kusu." She undid the latch of the window, and Temari instantly bolted into her room.

"Rima! Huff.. Huff... You have to help!"

"Help with what, Temari?"

"Rhythm.. Huff... Got X'ed!"

"W-What!?" _"Nagi... What's happened with you..."_

**"**Yeah! He came back from somewhere, and he kept muttering 'I'm not good enough, I'm a fool.' I still don't know what happened though, except for that it's hurt him really bad."

_"Hurt him... I hurt him."_ "Well, we can't just stand around now. Let's go.." Rima said, as she went to grab her shoes.

"A-Alright Rima... Are we going to Amu-chan's?"

"Mm"

**(Transition.)**

"Beh... I can't decide what to wear..."

"Just go with what you picked out first!" Su reasoned.

"I don't remember what I picked first..."

"Amu! I sense an X Egg!" Ran shouted out.

"Eh?! Really?! Of all times..."

"And it's more powerful than normal.." Miki and Dia said together.

Amu sighed, "Alright, lead me to it." The four small charas led her through her front door, and she heard a familiar voice calling her name. "Rima! Kusu-Kusu sensed it too?"

"No... Temari told me. The X Egg is Rhythm..." She murmured the last few words as she caught her breath.

"Rhythm!? A-As in Nagihik-"

"Yes."

"I wonder what happened.." Nagihiko, normally so calm yet cheerful, had put an X on himself. Rima didn't answer, but Ran dashed off in the direction of the egg, and both girls started to run after her. "R-Ran! Wait!" But, it being Ran, she just sped up.

**(Small Transition.) **

"Just try it Hikaru..."

"Why should I try it? Ice cream is just a useless frozen dessert packed with unnecessary sugars."

"You should try it because... It tastes good, I don't know! Just try it..." Rikka shook her head. "You're just too difficult sometimes, Hikaru."

"Difficult to you means observant of what I eat?" He looked over at her, eyes blank.

"Okay then! Don't try it! See if I ca-" A high voice interrupted her, and she looked up to find a floating X egg. "E-Eh!? Where's Amu-Sempai?! Or Rima-San, or Nagihiko-Sempai..." She called up to it. "H-Hey! You! Little guy!" She waved her arms in the air. "What's wrong?"

It looked down, before responding "Puhi, Puhi Puhi Puh."

"Eh? How'd you know my name-"

"Rikka, Hikaru!" Amu called to the third graders. "Get out of the way!"

"Amu-Sempai! This egg knows my name!" She exclaimed as she ran to the two older girls.

"That's because it's Nagihiko's egg, Rikka." Rima told her quietly.

"W-What!? It's the X egg of a former guardian!? W-Why did he put an X on it?"

"It's talking, isn't it? Listen yourself and tell us what he's saying."

Rikka turned her attention to the egg, who kept on repeating something. "It's saying: 'I'm a fool, I should've known that she would reject me, that's all I am, a fool.' S-So a girl turned him down? Who'd do that?!"

"_That's right... What girl would do that..." _She looked back at the egg, she had started this problem, it was time for her to end it. "Nagihiko! I'm sorry that I rejected you! I wish I could return your feelings, but I just see you as a friend!"

"R-Rima... So his final attempt... Failed. That's why..." Nagi had been so positive, even after Rima had rejected the first time. But when she definitively told him no, it just shattered him.

"But don't put an X on yourself just because of me! You have so much else you can do!"

The X egg mumbled a few things, stopping in it's tracks.

"Amu! Now!" Ran yelled to her.

"Right. Negative heart! Lock on!" This was it, this was her way of saving her friend."

"Open heart!" The glistening hearts, more powerful than ever before, overran the X egg. It's shell turned from the night black back to it's sky blue, the navy rings returned to the front, and finally, the white X, more meaningful than anyone can imagine, dissolved into thin air. The character transformation ended, and Miki was greeted by the other girls.

"I did it! Amulet Spade got to purify Nagi's egg!"

"Yes, yes she did..." Rima murmured, watching the egg float up and away. "She sure did."

**(FWEW! Now this was a hard chapter to write, by far the longest one I've written, and I had some distractions pop up. But I got it done, And now Rhythm is saved ^.^. Hope you guys enjoyed!)**


	18. The Horrible Leader that is Yaya

**(Fwew... After that long chapter 17, I'm going to lighten things a little bit up for a few chapters again, I want to keep this story going for a really long time, so I don't want it to instantly burn out.)**

"H-Here's your chocolates, Yaya-sempai."

"About time, Sunohara-kun." She said, leaning back in her chair. "Feed me."

"E-Eh...? You want me to feed you the chocalates...?"

"That's what I said, wasn't it? What are you waiting for?"

"Yaya-sempai... Is this really guardian work?"

"ARE YOU QUESTIONING YAYA. SUNOHARA-BOZU?"

"N-"

"Yes! Yes he is!" His guardian character piped up. "You're making us do ridiculous things while teaching us nothing! This is the third day we've been pampering you!"

"Correction, I've been making YOU do ridiculous things Sunohara-bozu, Nagisa-chan and Tomoya-kun are out watering the flowers."

"Why just me!? And stop calling me Sunohara-bozu!"

"Because you're the Jack, and it's the Jack's responsibility to serve the King and Queen."

"I'm not serving Tomoya anything." He muttered.

"Now feed Yaya."

The third grader paused. "No."

"Eh? I said feed Yaya!" She sat up in her chair. "Don't defy the queen!"

"Nope, I'm not. I'm going to go water the flowers with Nagisa-chan." He set the chocolates down on the table. "Eat them yourself."

"_Hmph... Sunohara-bozu's such the troublesome in the group. Yaya will have to punish him more when he gets back." _She reached and grabbed one of the small desserts.

"Yaya, you did remember to tell them not to water the marigolds, like Tsukasu-San asked, right?" Pepe piped up.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EHHHHHHHHHHHH? YAYA FORGOT! SUNOHARA-BOZU! TOMOYA-KUN! NAGISA-CHAAAAANNNNNN."

"If Yaya keeps this up, the Guardian's will be disbanded in a week... ~dechu."

**(Sorry that's it extremely short, this is just a nice comedic break for everyone ^.^. Hope you enjoyed!)**


	19. Years of hope, fulfilled

"Thank you anyways." The hot sun bore down on the entire city, he had no idea why THIS state wasn't called the "Sunshine State." "Another person down... Where are you hiding..." He had a feeling, this was the city where he would find his father. "Maybe I'll look down the-" He stopped mid sentence, as the sound of a violin drifted in the air. The notes were beautiful, yet they had a twinge of sorrow to them, as if the violinist was troubled. "CCould it be..." It was coming directly from behind him, and he slowly turned around. "F-Father..."

"Good morning, Sanjo-kun."

"You too, Hotori-san."

"San? You're acting as if I'm a complete stranger..." He tried to make a joke out of it, but he was serious about what he was saying.

"That's because to me, you are, Tadase-san."

"Eh?"

"The Hotori Tadase I knew was honorable, he wouldn't steal a girl away from another when they were away."

He sighed. "You're hiding behind the fact that you confessed first, Kairi." Now he smiled, before continuing on. "The facts are simple, Hinamori Amu is in love with me. Not you. Nor will she ever be in love with you, I've defeated you moments after the battle began."

"Heh. I'm not hiding, I'm just stating the facts. You're not the honorable king that you make yourself out to be, you're just a lowly prince."

"P-Prince... Haha..." An evil smirk came over his face, and the telltale sign of a small crown appeared on his head.

"_Ah... I accidentally set off his Character Transformation._"

"PEASANT! I AM NO MERE PRINCE! I AM THE KING OF THE WORLDDD!" HAHAHHAHAHAHA! BOW TO ME!" He yelled, a sense of power and control radiated from him.

Kairi's body tried to instantly do as the king said, it was a reflex that had been permanently ingrained into his mind. "_No... If I do that, I lose._" "No, I won't bow." He said calmly.

"EH? WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WON'T BO-" He stopped midsentence, the small crown that rested on his head vanished, and the fire from his eyes vanished. "A-Ah.. Sorry."

"No need, I'm used to it."

"H-Heh... I don't know if that's a bad or good thing."

"The former, now if you excuse me, I must go. I have someone's love to win." He adjusted his glasses, and looked back at his host with a sly glint in his eyes.

"Alright then, let's go together, because so do I."

"It's like I said, I won't lose to you, King."

"And my response is just the same. I won't lose to you, Jack."

"We'll see about that.

"Yes, yes we will."

**(And now those two are on a direct path to Amu. The next chapter will probably be about Kukai and Utau mainly, I might include a little bit more from this storyline, but Rima and Nagihiko are going to be out of the story for at least a few chapters, I did three straight chapters with them, so I figured it's time for a break. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed. Cheers!)**


	20. The First Battle, and the King's temper

**(Alright, I changed the plans. This chapter won't be a Kutau chapter, it's just going to be a continuation of the last one. ^.^. Sorry for you Kutau fans, but I want to keep the main storyline going.)**

"Thanks for the breakfast!" She called as she headed up the stairs, closing her door behind her. "Ugh... I couldn't sleep at all."

"Why Amu-chan?" Ran asked.

"I don't know... Maybe it was because you guys were SCREAMING the entire night?"

"H-Hey! Blame Miki for that!" Su piped up. "She was the one who kept on scaring us!"

"Of course... Just blame me." Miki muttered.

"We're blaming you because it was YOU who was scaring us.."

"Keep on telling yourself that."

"What's that suppose-"

"Amu! You have two boys here for you!"

"Eh!? Two boys?" The four of them said together.

"C-Coming!" She scrambled down the stairs. "O-Oh... Tadase, Kairi-kun." These two rivals were coming to her house together. _"What are they up to...?"_

"Hello, Amu-chan." They both greeted her the same, before looking at each other. They both had some sort of a fire in their eyes.

"Nice to see you again, Joker."

"Y-You too..."

"OOH! IT'S THE SAMURAI AND KING!" A young voice came from the back of the room.

Amu looked back, to see her sister rushing towards them. "Ami?! Aren't you supposed to be out with dad?"

"Yep! But I told him that I didn't want to because I have a playdate with one of the boys from my kindergarten class!"

"_Boys, eh? I can already imagine his reaction... 'Of course my little Ami-chii wants to play with a boy from her class, nobody wants to go out to town with daddy anymore... Boys are taking her away so fast...' Yep. That'd be his reaction."_

"Where have you been Mr. Samurai!?" She was tugging on his shirt, "Ooh, and your mini Samurai's here too!"

"W-Well, I moved back to my hometown..."

"Ooh! So why did you come back?"

"_Well... I can't __**really **__tell her, can I?"_ He looked up to Amu. _"Bail me out here, Joker..."_

"O-Oh! Kairi came back because his parents thought he'd get a better education here, r-right?" She wasn't the best liar, but it was enough to fool Ami.

"Ah, alright. See you later then, Samurai and King!" She left as quickly as she had come.

"S-Sorry about her..."

"It's fine." Again, they said the same thing at the same time.

"So.." Tadase began

"We have..." Kairi stopped, they were both at a loss for words.

_"They're more in sync than you would think." _

"A lot to talk about, right?" Tadase ended, they both still had a cheery look on their faces, even though they were probably both despising that they had to stand together.

"S-Sure... Let's go up to my room." She led the way, opening the door for them and closing it behind them. "So..."

"I'm sure you know why we're here."

"W-Well... I actually don't..."

"To put it shortly." Tadase explained. "Kairi and I are having a war, and this is the first battle."

"War? Battle? Do you mean... A war... For me?"

"Yes." Kairi looked calm as he continued on. "I actually stayed over at Hotori-san's house last night."

"Wait! So you're having a war, and you're staying in the same house? That doesn't make sense..." Ran floated up in the middle of the three.

"You didn't let me finish. I stayed over at his house because we were both preparing."

"Preparing?"

"We both agreed to do the exact same thing to show our feelings for you." Tadase was starting to feel a bit awkward, both of them having a sense of honor had really made an odd way of competing. "We chose to write a note."

"Mm. Here's mine." He reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a large manila envelope.

"And here's min-" Tadase reached into his front coat pocket, to find nothing. "Eh..." "_Wait a second... Did he..." _He turned to look Kairi straight in the face, he had a smile on his face, and his eyes closed. "_He did.." _His cool and calm self evaporated instantly, and he grabbed Kairi by his shirt collar. "You took my letter for Amu-chan... Didn't you?"

_"W-What the..." _"N-No... I didn't."

"Liar!" Tadase pushed him against the wall, causing Kairi's glasses to fall to the ground. "Now tell me where it is."

"I-I don't have it!"

"Tadase!"

"Not now Amu-chan, Kairi is going to tell me where he hid my letter." He inched closer to his face. "You violated our terms, you say I'M not the honorable one, where as you relied on discarding something I worked for hours on."

"I-I didn't do-"

"Tadase! The letter is in the side pocket of your coat!" Ran and Miki called.

"_I-In my side pocket?" _He kept his grip on Kairi's shirt, but looked down at his right side. There it was, plain as day, the green envelope he had put his note in. "O-Oh.." He let go, and stepped back, to hear the sound of glass breaking.

"My glasses... You just stepped on my glasses..." Kairi murmured. "Joker," She looked back at him, "Is this who you truly want to be with? Someone who loses his temper easily even though he makes himself out to be perfect?"

"A-Amu-chan..."

"You lost your temper, Tadase. Now you've broken Kairi's glasses..." Tadase's outburst had startled her, and now she just wanted them gone. "I-I'll take your note, but you guys need to go now... Before anything else bad happens." She whispered.

"S-Sure..." He handed her the green envelope, before turning to leave. "I'm sorry... Both of you." He quietly headed down the stairs, and Amu turned to Kairi.

"I-I think you need to go too, Kairi."

"Sorry, but I'm going to stay for just a little longer."

"Eh..?"

"I said, or rather, WE said at the start that we had a lot to talk about. I'm not done talking."

"What's more to say..."

"There's much more. Much more."

**(Not the best ending, but I don't want to cram EVERYTHING into one chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed though, I will continue this in 2-3 chapters at my best estimate.) **


	21. Flowers and Caterpillars

**(So now we go from the bedroom of Amu Hinamori to the flower beds of Seiyo Academy. Quite a transition, eh?)**

"Alright, I just watered the magnolia's!" Tomoya called. "Yaya-sempai didn't tell us whether or not we should water the sunflowers too, do you know Nagisa-chan?"

"_I'm two years older than you, and I hardly know you anyways... So why are you calling me Nagisa-chan..." "_I guess? I really don't know myself."

"Beh... Beh..."

"Hn? Oh, Sunohara-kun. You're done with your duties for the queen?"

"I skipped out, she can eat her own chocolates. These flowers can't drink on their own though."

"You skipped out? W-Wow... I bet she wasn't happy." Nagisa remarked, not taking her eyes off of the flowers.

"Yeah... She really wasn't. Oh well, I really couldn't care."

"Couldn't care?! Don't you like being in the Guardians?"

"Do you?"

"W-Well..." She hadn't expected to be asked her own question. "I guess not, really. It sounds like the last group was fun, but Yaya-sempai doesn't seem like a-"

"Very good leader." He finished. "No, she's not. She wants to be a literal BABY, so she pitches a tantrum when she doesn't get her way, and she expects us to FEED her."

"It's like we're servants, not representatives."

"Exactly." _"This Sunohara is actually kind of smart for his age, he reminds me of that Kairi Sanjo that Yaya-sempai was going on about." _Well, minus the fact that Sunohara was obviously not a former spy for a multi-billionaire company trying to find a magical egg that will grant any wish.

"_Heh. She agrees with me. Beat that, Tomoya." _

"Nagisa-san!" Tomoya called from across the flower beds. "I found a caterpillar, aren't they your favorite insect?"

"Y-Yeah... How'd you know that?"

"I just picked it up, I think I noticed you reading a book about them, something along the lines of _"The Encyclopedia of the Caterpillar, 2.0 1st Edition Printing written by Tsuga Omi." _

"Yep, that's the book. Now lemme see the little creature."

"_Beh... He beat me..." _Sunohara dejectedly watered some of the tulips, "_He's been getting in my way for the last two weeks... It's as if he has a crush on her too... Caterpillars... He's going to beat me using Caterpillars." _

"AIIIIEEEEEEE! IT'S POISONOUS!? GET IT OFF MY HAND! GET IT OFF!"

"ACK! YOU THREW IT ON ME TOMOYA!? NOW YOU GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"

"IT'S ON YOUR NECK!"

"STOP TELLING ME AND GET IT OFF!"

"_Actually... I don't think I have too much competition." _Sunohara smirked, before he simply walked off.

**(And there's Chapter 21. Ironically, one of my reviews nailed this right on the head, this was one of the few things I had planned for a fact, and she got it when I just BARELY hinted at it. Anyways, hope you enjoyed! Cheers!)**


	22. The Cracking of an Egg

"I don't want to."

"Why not... It'll be fun!"

"Why would I? All a rollercoaster is is an amusement attraction that uses a cart guided by a track system and fluctuates between altitudes and velocity."

"Sigh.. You over analyze things Hikaru..."

"Analysis is a key skill to have in life Rikka."

"Alright, that's it." She grabbed him by the hand, and started to drag him. "I'm going to forcefully put you in it."

"You're so determined..."

"Got that right."

"At the very least, tell me which one we're going on."

"Er, how about the Mindbend?"

"Mindbend? Mind's can't ben-"

"Don't go off on one of your 'that can't really happen' rambles, I already listened to you go on about how the strawberry ice cream couldn't be flavored with real strawberries."

"Well, it's not. It's strawberry flavoring."

"HERE WE ARE!" She dragged him up the ramp, ignored the ride operators questioning glance, and plunked him down into one of the seats. "Now buckle in, it's about to-"

"Start, I know."

"How'd you know... You don't ride these things."

"Your sentence was simple, there were a limited options that you could've gone with, so I chose the most likely possibility."

"_If analysis is a key part in life, then Hikaru is going to have one heck of one..." _She pulled the strap over her chest, and sat back in the chair. "I actually haven't been on this one."

"Eh? You were hyping it up as if you had been on it-" He got interrupted as the string of carts shot forward, expectantly. The coaster was wasting no time in putting in some action. He looked down the track to see what was ahead, when he noticed the two upside down loops. "R-Rikka! There's going to be two loops!"

"W-What?!" She looked where he pointed, and her skin went pale. "L-Loops...? I-I've never done loops!"

"That makes two of us." He replied, tuning out the rest of her nervous stuttering. That's when he noticed that they were at the peak of the first drop, and then they abruptly shot down.

"AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE E!" Rikka shouted.

The wind shot up against his face, tousling his hair in every single different direction. _"This is actually kind of fun..." _He looked over to Rikka, who had her arms stretched out in the air and his eyes squeezed shut. He copied her, realizing that the two loops were coming up next, and he sure didn't want to see them coming. Then there was an odd feeling, as if he was upside down. He actually was. "H-How'd you convince me to get on this with yo- Woah!" He cut off as the second loop came, the cart was programmed to slow down at the top, so it felt as if they were suspended in air. "How'd you convince me to get on this with you Rikka!?" He asked, before another burst of speed took hold of the cart.

"Y-You c-c-can't s-s-say that it's n-not f-f-f-f-fun, Hikaru."

"Even if I DID say that, it doesn't answer the question!" "_Even though this is a bit new and scary, she's right. This is fun." _

"W-Well..." The cart then stopped, and they both lowered their arms and opened their eyes. "I-It's over..."

"Thank god..." Hikaru sighed, as he undid his buckling. "That... Was admittedly scary."

"Oh lose the all 'admittedly' and just say it was scary and fun."

"Alright, alright. It was fun, happy?"

"Yep!"

"Now want to ride on the ferris wheel?"

His initial reflex was to talk about how pointless of a ride the ferris wheel was, but he found himself actually WANTING to go on the giant, slow spinning wheel. "Sure."

"W-Why no- Eh? You said sure?"

"Yes, I said sure."

"A-Alright then..." Rikka eyed him suspiciously, as if she was wondering if this was the real Hikaru or not.

"_Yeah... Let's ride the ferris wheel." _Right after that thought, the yellow egg that lay in his front pocket, cracked in two.

**(Aaaaaand there's Chapter 22! Hikaru's egg has now hatched. I figured it was high time these two just got a chapter for themselves, they've only gotten a brief mention in the Nagihiko X Egg chapter. So I hope you enjoyed, expect a few more chapters tonight!) **


	23. Love-Shout!

**(And I'm back! Here's chapter 23, here for your viewing pleasure! Cheers! By the way, to clear up any confusion, this is a week after the whole Tadase AWOL breaking Kairi's glasses green envelope disaster.)**

"Thanks for inviting me, Rima."

"Mm. No problem, least I could do."

"Sorry for all of that, I guess I overreacted."

"Don't worry about it Nagi, I'm sorry that I turned you down."

Yeah, still stung. But he was over all the suffering, he'd put an X on himself because of a girl. "No problem, no worries at all. So where are we going again?"

"We're going to love-shout." She answered immediately. "It came back to town this year, and Amu-chan wanted us to come."

"Amu... Wanted us to come to love-shout? Why does Amu want-"

"I already asked her. She didn't really give me a straight answer."

"I have the feeling it has to do with-"

"Tadase and Kairi?"

"Mhm."

"Yeah, those two aren't up to any good." Rima commented.

"More like Kairi's not up to any good, Tadase's already dating her."

"He's entitled to love Amu if he wants to, Nagi." She shot back.

"Sure, but he's not entitled to try to steal her away."

"It's not stealing her if she chooses him."

"But he'd have to steal her away if she fell in love with him."

"But it wouldn't be STEALING if he was taking what was already his."

"Alright, let's just agree to disagree."

"Fine." They were at the event anyways, no need to keep up this stupid conversation around Amu. Though they both knew that they were going to have to ask about it anyways, and why THEY were there."

"Amu-chan!" Nagihiko called to their friend, who was staring off into space as usual. "She's out of it more than usual. Perhaps-"

"She has those two on her mind?" Rima finished again. "She probably does." The two sat down next to her on opposite sides.

"_What should I do... Tadase has more of a temper than I thought, and Kairi talked with me for the live long night." _Nagihiko and Rima both looked at each other, with the same thought in mind. With a countdown, they both yelled. "Hi Amu-Chan!"

"BEEHGHEGHGSLAHFALKFJHASDLA?!" She rocketed out of the bench, and got into a defensive pose. "Beh... Beh... You guys... I hate... So... Much.."

"Got Kairi on your mind?" Rima bluntly asked

"Or Hotori-kun?" Nagihiko pressed.

"Why do you two want to know..." She mumbled.

"That's a yes." The two said in unison. "What happened."

She reluctantly told them the entire story of the night, and it was clear the part about Tadase's temper was shocking to them.

"Seems that Hotori-kun loves you a lot more than you could've ever imagined." Nagihiko remarked.

"Same with Kairi-sama." Rima commented

"But Tadase is more spirited."

"But Kairi moved from Otaru for Amu."

"Tadase's already with Amu."

"But Kairi confessed first." Rima shot back again, they were really on different sides on this issue.

"Doesn't matter because-"

"Of course it matters! Are you kiddi-"

"Don't interrup-"

"You don't interrupt!"

"I wasn't tryi-"

"Surre"

"You just did it then!"

"GUYS GUYS GUYS!" Amu waved her hands in front of them. "You're getting into an argument over MY love life."

They both sighed. "I guess we are..." Nagihiko mumbled.

"Sorry, Amu."

"Yeah."

"It's fine, both of you. Now let's just sit down."

"Oh yeah, why are we here exactly?" Nagihiko remembered the first question he was going to ask her.

"I figured it'd be something fun for all of us to do." Amu said simply. "Love-shout doesn't come around often."

"And you wanted protection in case Kairi or Tadase come around and try to convince you to come on stage?"

"_Rima's too sharp." _Amu thought. "You're too sharp, Rima." Amu repeated her thoughts outloud.

"I don't think there's a thing as being too sharp."

"Gagh... We're just fooling around with meaningless conversation!" Nagihiko spoke up.

"And the show's starting..." Amu murmured, it was just like last year's competition, just with different couples with different ways of shouting their love.

"Now, for the final couple, or well, I guess this isn't a couple. We actually have TWO boys announcing their love for one single girl." The announcer announced.

"Is this..."

"Who we..."

"Think it is...?" Amu finished.

"Please give an applause for Kairi Sanjo and Tadase Hotori!"

"It..."

"Is..."

"Them..."

The two looked at each other, and the mic caught what Tadase said. "I've said it many times, Sanjo-kun. I won't lose to you."

"Nor will I to you." It was their classic conversation, but it was always how they started another fight. And this time, someone was going to be down permanently.

**(So there it is! Quite an eventful chapter for my return, those two are now going on the Love-Shout, yes, they do seem a bit pushy. Yes, I did that on purpose. Yes, there is some convenience. CONVENIENCE IS EVERYWHERE. Oh yeah, and Rima and Nagihiko have made up. So things are back to normal, but not really. At all. Hope you enjoyed!)**


	24. Love-Shout II

**(Here's the continuation of the Love-Shout! chapter. :D. But, before I start writing, I have two shoutouts to make for the two newest followers, Starlightfire10 and Shine3000! I can't believe I already have four followers and 3 favorites, and I really have to thank all of you guys for the support you've shown through views and reviews. Anyways, as always, I hope you enjoy!)**

"They..."

"Actually..."

"Came here..." Amu finished, these two wouldn't stop, would they? Then again, they had been pretty low key for the past week, which she hadn't picked up on.

"I came here last year," Tadase began. "But I never got to finish what I had to say. I've planned on doing this for the last few months, but Sanjo-kun just recently came back into the picture. I suppose you could say we have-"

"A rivalry." Kairi interrupted. "And it's not suppose, we have a true rivalry for the love of one girl in this audience." They had the audience's attention, none of them had expected TWO boys to be competing for ONE girl at this event. "I confessed my love for her last year, as I moved back to my hometown of Otaru. Yet I couldn't stay away, and I've moved back to Tokyo just for this girl."

"And I confessed to her just after that, and we'd become close." Tadase explained his side. "Yet now she's not sure of who she should pick, and this is just one of the battles that we are taking to win her love." They explained their odd situation, they had the audience interested already.

"So now," They both began "It's time for us to announce our love for Amu Hinamori."

"Amu-chan, go on up!" Ran prodded Amu, who'd almost gone off into a trance.

"O-O-O-O-O-O-Okay..." She stuttered, as she shakily went onto the stage, the audience's attention fixed on her.

"Sorry we had to do this without telling you, Joker." Kairi apologized, though it was obvious he wasn't REALLY sorry, it was more of a formality.

"Yes, we figured you wouldn't go along with it if we told you our plans."

"G-Got that right..." She muttered.

"So, Hotori-san. Shall you or I go first?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like to."

"Perfect." Kairi stepped away from the mic, and looked at his rival, the boy keeping him from being with the love of his life. Yes, this WAS a war, and it was a hard fought one.

"Amu, I made a promise to you a year ago, to tell you that I loved you for every day that I never knew you. I haven't told you that today, have I?"

She nervously shook her head, so many pairs of eyes were burning into her.

"I love you, Amu-chan. I love you more than words can describe, I could shout to the heavens that I loved you, yet I could never truly show you my love through just words or actions. We've had our slip ups, both you and I, but we're happy. We've been happy. This is a crucial battle in our war for you, and I hope that I can be the victor." He stepped back from the mic, with a smile on his face. "I love you."

The audience clapped, how a boy could have such an immense love at such a young age astounded them, and the fact that there was ANOTHER boy was just out of imagination.

Kairi now stepped up to his mic, and the audience was fixated on him now, instead of Amu. An aura of confidence surrounded him, as he stood up straight with a certain fire in his eye. "Hotori-san, I have to admit, you're well spoken." He began. "You were the King of the guardian's, and held that position well."

"_What is he up to..." _Tadase forced himself to nod in thanks, though he felt that he wasn't really saying that to be nice.

"But, that position is gone now. All the three of us are are Jr. High students. We're finally even." He'd gone through this speech word for word, making everything go fluently and give a good ring to it. "You recently said that I hide behind the fact that I confessed first, that that fact was the only traction I had here."

A light "Ooh..." came from the audience.

"And you were right. That was the only traction I had." He paused, adjusting his glasses. "But I've gained more than you could've ever imagined in one single night."

"_He's talking about the note night... Where Tadase lost his temper." _Amu thought uncomfortably, she'd hidden something from everyone.

"I had a very long conversation with Amu after you were gone, Tadase." He started to escalate his conversation from the kind start, it was getting more pressuring. "And in just a few seconds, I'd won her over."

"W-What are you trying to say, Kairi-kun..?"

"What I'm trying to say, Hotori, is that I kissed her." A smirk came onto his face.

"K-Kairi!" Amu shouted.

"Amu-chan..." Tadase spoke quietly. "You... Kissed him?"

The audience was deathly silent, this had gone south quickly.

"I-I... Did..."

"I see..." Tadase stepped back, before murmuring something as he vanished off stage. "Amu, I love you..."

"T-Tadase! I can explain!" She called after him, running off of the stage. It was now only Kairi in the audience's view, and he looked out over the crowd.

"Well, Goodbye.." He murmured into the mic, before walking off the stage himself.

(**So there it is! Was it the ending of this event you expected? Yes? No? This battle is far from over, and expect more from on it soon!)**


	25. Mew Meow

(**Fwew, I tried to stay just a few hours away, I can't xD. Here's chapter 25, can't believe I've written this much! Anyways, hope you enjoy :D)**

"W-What!? Me?"

"Yes, you."

"R-Really Yaya-sempai..? Tomoya-kun and Sunohara-kun have a crush on me...?"

"Isn't it obvious Nagisa-chan? They've both been trying to impress you over the last week, it reminds me of Kairi and Tadase fighting for Amu-chan."

"Amu-chan? The former Joker?"

"Yep! Kairi was the Jack before Nagi, and Tadase was the King!" She twirled around, then pointed right at her. "So Sunohara's Kairi, Tomoya's Tadase, and you're Amu! It's the exact same!"

"Except for that I'm the Ace... And I'm older than both of them."

"But... Kairi was TWO years younger than Amu, and they are TWO years younger than you!"

"Beh... I guess it is similar..." She was already pretty shy, now knowing that two other guardian's had feelings for her wouldn't be helping that. "So what do I do...?"

"How would Yaya know?"

"Y-You haven't had a crush on a boy?"

"No, she hasn't." Pepe floated behind her owner. "She's been too busy making balls filled with poppies and planning for being the 'ruler' of the Guardian's."

"Yep! Yaya doesn't have time for boys."

"_Doesn't... Have time for boys?" _The thought seemed odd to Nagisa, even though she was a year younger, even SHE had had a crush or two. "_Then again... Her would-be self is a baby, and babies don't have crushes...? Ahh, I don't know." _It was then that one of those third graders walked into the gardens.

"Nagisa-Chaaaaaaaan." Sunohara called, he'd come out to be a clumsy, loud, and energetic person.

"O-Oh... Hello, Sunohara-kun." She greeted him awkwardly.

"I got tickets to _"Mew Meow." _You know, the movie about the cats who go on an adventure?" He held two tickets in his left hand. "Wanna come?"

"W-Well.." "_I HAVE been wanting to see Mew Meow... And he's not so bad, is he? This doesn't mean he has a crush on me, he's just a friend inviting me to a movie, that's all." _"S-Sure..."

"Great!" "_Score. I got her to go to a movie with me. Sunohara: One, Tomoya: Z-E-R-O." _

"Have fun you two!" Yaya energetically called. "They are so going to end up dating one other." She said to Pepe when the two closed the door.

"Got that right." Pepe nodded.

"So... Sunohara-kun."

"Hn?"

"Why did you invite me?"

"Because you're a friend, why?"

"O-Oh... No reason..."

"Alright." _"And if I play my cards right, you'll be much more than that soon enough, Nagisa-chan." _

**(This is the end of Chapter 25, I figured that little side stories give it all a bit of variety, so that's why you'll see these things scattered throughout the story. I WILL be writing Chapter 26 and publishing it tonight VERY soon, and it will have a continuation of the TadasexAmuxKairi storyline. Anyhow, I'll see you then!)**


	26. The Three Perspectives

**(Here's chapter 26! This is actually a rewrite, as I lost the original chapter due to internet difficulties. By the way, I'd like to thank all of you guys for reading, last night we hit over 1,000 views! :D. I would've never imagined I'd even get close to that when I started this story just nine days ago. Anyways, as always, I hope you enjoy!)**

"T-Tadase-kun! Stop! I can explain!"

He didn't. He just seemed to gain speed instead, he was running from her, trying to get away. Which he did.

"Tadase-kun.." Her lungs were screaming for air, and she couldn't keep aimlessly running after him. "W-What have I done..." That look, the look on his face before he stepped off the stage, she'd seen it before. "_It's the same look as when he found out about Ikuto staying in my room..." _She'd hurt him again, just as much as she had the first time, if not more. "I-Im sorry, Tadase-kun... So sorry..."

**(Transition.)**

"Was that a wise move, Kairi?"

"Probably not."

"Then why did you do it?"

"Why did I do it, Musashi?" He paused to look at his guardian character. "I don't know, I guess I've just been enveloped in a craze to defeat him any way necessary. I told him I wouldn't lose, and that was my mindset."

"So you didn't think about the consequences for Amu?"

"Consequences?"

"You told everyone that you kissed her, even though she has a boyfriend, Hotori. Now her reputation's been damaged because of you. That doesn't help your cause, Kairi."

"I-I didn't think about that either..." He sighed, he didn't seem to be thinking things through properly. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Stay away from the two of them for now."

"Eh? I shouldn't apologize?"

"No. If you do it now, it'll look like damage control, as if there's no sincerity." Musashi explained.

"Mm. Alright then. I'll give them time."

(**Transition)**

"_I-I can't believe it..." _He couldn't believe the betrayal, from both of them. "What am I supposed to do..."

"Tadase? Something wrong?" Kiseki floated to his owner's side, who looked the same as always, just a bit pale.

"O-Oh... It's nothing, Kiseki.." He assured his chara quietly. "I'm just thinking, that's all."

"Alright then..."

"_Kairi... You may have won, won the heart of a girl who clearly doesn't love me..." _

**_(Transition)_**

****"Of course I love him!"

"Then why did you kiss Kairi, Amu-chan?"

"I-I don't know... I just did..." She flopped back on her bed. "He just persuaded me to..."

"Persuasion?" Diamond repeated. "How can you really persuade someone to kiss you?"

"W-Well... He just kept talking about how he had moved from Otaru to Tokyo just for me, and how much he loved me. I got caught up in the heat of the moment..."

"So you weren't really thinking?" Miki asked.

"No, I wasn't. He said he wouldn't tell a soul, now he's told hundreds of them... It's all his fault. It's his fault that I kissed him, his fault that he organized this with Tadase, and it's his fault that he told everyone about it."

"I guess he was caught in the moment too, just like you were. He's determined to beat Tadase, so he's going to go to whatever means to do so..." Diamond made the connection quickly, the two's situations were quite similar.

"I guess so... But what should I do?!"

"Confront Kairi and apologize to Tadase?" Ran suggested.

"Simple enough..." Amu murmured. "I'll confront Kairi first and then apologize to Tadase, he probably needs a little bit of time..."

"Alright then, Amu-chan..."

**(So there it is! Sorry for all of the transitions, but I thought it was essential all of their views together. I should be putting out atleast one more chapter today, if not a lot more. So stay tuned! Cheers!)**


	27. Ippan and Wayang

**(Chapter 27! I don't have much to say for this one, but I do have two shoutouts to make for my two newest followers, iiGabbyLove and Toxic-Cyanide! Other than that, I hope you guys enjoy!)**

"What were you thinking, honestly?"

"I wasn't, I've told you that already."

"You've put yourself in a bad position."

"Do you think I don't know that..." He sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"He won't forgive you." She said, sipping on a soda.

"I don't need forgiveness."

"Sure you do, you don't really want to be enemies with Hotori, do you?"

"Enemies? Meh. I won't stop at anything to get Amu."

"Even if that means losing all of your friends?"

"Yes, Mashiro-san."

"Sounds crazy to me..." Rima murmured.

"So was that the only reason you invited me here? To tell me that I made a bad decision?"

"Not only that. I still consider you as a friend Kairi, we were guardian's together."

"Heh, I guess we were. So what else do you want to talk about then?"

"I don't know." She replied bluntly.

"You don't know? You're the one who said we were friends and all."

"We are, you start a topic."

"O-Oh... Well, what about samurai sw-"

"No."

"Alright... Samurai hono-"

"Not that either."

"Sam-"

"Nada."

"Alright, then what should I start the conversation with?"

"Anything that's not samurai-related."

"Okay, what about the latest episode of Kigeki?"

"Kigeki?! As in the comedy central of Japan?!" Rima's eyes seem to perk up, losing their normal petite calmness.

"Yep."

"And the one with Nagoboku-sensei doing the Wayang stories!?"

"Mhm."

"Alright, I'm listening."

And thus, a comedic discussion began between the two, ranging from stand up comedians to the latest television shows. From an outsider, the two 7th graders probably looked pretty odd, especially when Kairi _tried _to do a Bala-Balance, and ended up getting the full wrath of Rima.

"YOUR FORM'S WRONG, YOU DIDN'T SAY IT WITH ENOUGH ENTHUSIASM, AND YOU LACK THE PASSION! COMEDY IS NOT TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY."

"I-I never said I was good at this..."

**(Transition) **

"So your name is.. Ippan?"

"Yep!"

"So your name literally means ordinary...?"

"Mhm!"

"And you're my guardian character?"

"Nailed it!"

"Why would I have such a useless character?" Hikaru tilted his head, looking at the small person.

"I-I'm not useless..." Ippan sighed. "I was born from your hidden desire to just be an ordinary boy."

"An ordinary boy...? Why would I want to be like those commoners?"

"Hey, it's YOUR desire, I was just born from it."

"So, if you're my Guardian character, that means that I can Character Transform with you, right?"

"Well, let's see. Hikaru's Heart, unlock!"

It was an odd feeling, a character transformation. A blast of light engulfed him, before vanishing as quickly as it had come.

"W-Woah..."

**_(And Chapter 27! You guy's now know who Hikaru's Guardian Chara is, but not his Transformation. Yet. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!)_**


	28. Three words

**(Disclaimer: I do not own the Shugo Chara! brand, characters, or concept.)**

"You left us."

"Mm. And it pained me to do so."

"Hurt us more than it did you."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"How the hell did you end up here anyways?"

"Too long of a story to tell you, Ikuto." Aruto laid back in his chair, sipping on some coffee.

"I got time, if you haven't noticed."

"Alright then, I'll tell you everything then, just keep your questions until the end."

"You're ready for thousands of questions to be instantly bombarded at you?" Ikuto asked, staring intently at his father.

"Yes."

"Okay, start telling me the story, father."

**(Transition!)**

"Eh? You're a fan of anime?"

"Mhm." She answered.

"R-Really? Which ones?"

"O-Oh, I like _Bakuman, Kimi Ni Todoke, _and _Boys over Flowers."_

_"_Heh, cool."

"Which ones do you watch?"

"E-Erm, I've watched _Slam Dunk, Tomorrow's Joe, Naruto, Toky-" _He stopped midsentence, though it was too late, she'd noticed that he'd stopped short on one title.

"What?" She grinned, "I didn't hear that last one."

"NOTHING! IT'S NOTHING AT ALL!" He reassured her nervously.

"Oh come on, Sunohara-kun! Just tell me."

"_She's either going to think this is cute, or be totally weirded out." _"W-Well... I kinda watched _Tokyo Mew Mew_..."

"Eh!? You watched a shojo anime?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, good for you, I guess." She smiled sweetly. "Just because it's shojo doesn't mean it's impossible for boy's to like it."

"_Ohthankgodshedoesn'tthinkI'mweird" _(Oh thank god, she doesn't think I'm weird) "Heh, Thanks Nagisa."

"_Eh!? He just called me Nagisa... No honorific, was sensei right?"_

"_Ah crap! I called her just by her name by accident! She hasn't said anything about it though, so I shouldn't mention it. That might arouse some suspicion." _

"S-So... It looks like we're here."

"Sunohara-kun! Nagisa-chaaaaaaaannnn!"

"_No. Way. Is. He. Here." _

"Oh, Tomoya-kun! Hello!"

"What are you two doing here?"

"We're just coming to see _Mew Meow!" _Nagisa answered, forgetting that Yaya had also told her that TOMOYA had a crush on her.

"Mind if I come along?"

"Well, Sunohara has to say yes, but I see no problem with it." She turned to Sunohara.

"S-Sure... T.o.m.o.y.a. c.a.n. c.o.m.e. w.i.t.h. u.s." He struggled with every syllable, how bad he hated this blue haired kid.

"Great! I got money too, so you don't have to pay for my ticket either."

"_Like I would pay for anything of yours, Tomoya-jukeisha." _**(A/N: Jukeisha is a term used for someone convicted of a crime, Sunohara's saying that Tomoya has basically committed a crime by ruining his date with Nagisa.) **

After Tomoya bought his ticket, and the threesome bought their snacks, they walked into the spacious screening room.

"Wow... It's packed." Sunohara murmured.

"We can either have a seat in the back, or a seat in the very front." Tomoya observed.

"Well, I don't have the best eyesight, so let's sit in the front." Nagisa offered.

"Alright, fine by me, Nagisa-chan." Sunohara answered.

"And me!" Tomoya butted in.

They let Nagisa go down the aisle first, and started to silently argue with one other.

"You! You ruined my date!" Sunohara murmered angrily.

"Heh. Good thing I came along too, Nagisa is all mine."

"Wrong. We share the same likes, and I didn't throw a poisonous caterpillar on her."

"She didn't get bitten."

"IT WAS A POISONOUS CATERPILLAR!"

"_What are they murmuring about..." _Nagisa thought, trying to tune into their conversation, she caught the last part of what Sunohara was saying.

"Nagisa is mine, not yours, Tomoya-bozu."

"_S-She was right... They DO have a crush on me..."_ She thought, before whispering to them."H-Hey guys, cmon. The movie's about to start..." They barely noticed her, and kept on silently talking as they took their seats. She sat on the end of the aisle, and she noticed Sunohara rush in front of Tomoya for the seat next to her. Tomoya then gave Sunohara some sort of death stare, before settling into the next seat.

"So, Nagisa-chan."

"Hn?"

"T-Thanks for coming here with me. I appreciate it." His face had a scarlet shade to it, he was showing his nerves.

"Oh, no problem, Sunohara." She left off the honorific, just to see how he'd react.

"_EH!? NAGISA CALLED ME SUNOHARA! NO KUN, NO BOZU, JUST SUNOHARA." _He turned to Tomoya, who's attention had snapped to the two. A large smirk was on his face, he'd already won, and Tomoya knew it. He turned back to Nagisa, to realize his entire face was on fire.

"_W-Wow... Leaving off -kun has turned his face to just red. He really has that big of a crush on me..." _

"Nagisa-chan, I have something to tell y-"

"H-Hey guys! T-The movie's starting!" Tomoya interrupted, he had to stop Sunohara, or his chance of getting Nagisa to like HIM were destroyed.

Sunohara muttered something, but he started to watch the movie anyways. "_Heh, he ordered a large soda, he'll have to go to the bathroom, then I can confess to Nagisa." _He smiled, starting to enjoy the film. Yes, Nagisa Furukawa was within his grasp. And he was right, in the middle of the film, Tomoya thoughtlessly excused himself to go to the bathroom, and once he was out of sight, Sunohara looked over to Nagisa.

"N-Nagisa-chan..."

"Hn?" She looked over at him.

"I-I have something I need to tell you..."

"_Is he going to..."_

"I-I..."

"_He is..." _

"Like you, Nagisa Furukawa. I like you."

"_What am I supposed to say...?" _

"D-Do you like me?" A look of hope was in his eyes, though his posture was tense, as if he was about to endure a blow.

"I..."

**(C-C-C-C-Cliffhanger. I hope you enjoyed! I'm going to take a break for an hour, and I want you guys to tell me down in the Review Section whom you'd like the next chapter to be written about. If I get no votes whatsoever, I'll just decide. Cheers!)**


	29. Ippan's Transformation

**(Alrighty, I'm back and so is Chapter 29! After reading your comments, this chapter is going to be about Hikaru's Character Transformation. Thanks for the votes, and I hope you enjoy!)**

"So this... Is my character transformation?" He looked at himself, his normal blazer had been replaced with a T-shirt, his uniform shorts now plain khaki's, and a cap had appeared on his head. "This is it?"

"Yep! Your appearance is that of an ordinary boy!" Ippan's voice sounded in his head.

"An ordinary boy..." Hikaru repeated. "Do I have any sort of special abilities?"

"Erm... I don't know." Ippan admitted.

"You don't know!? Shouldn't you know your own powers?"

"Hey! I was just born 5 hours ago..."

"Fine. Let's go outside then." He said, opening the door. "Grandfatherrrr, I'm going out!" Hikaru called, before realizing what he just said. "Why did I just call him 'grandfather?'"

"Because you're less up tight when you're in this transformation, Hikaru!"

"So basically, this character transformation also works like one of those 'chara changes'?"

"Yep!"

**(Small Transition.) **

"EEEEEEHHHHHHH!? HIKARU!?"

"Hi, Rikka-chan." The ordinary Hikaru waved.

"Why are you dressed like that?! And did you just call me Rikka-chan?"

"Well, this is my character transformation."

"EEEEEEEEEHHHH? REALLY?" She surveyed him. "So what's your ability?!"

"I don't know." He shrugged and smiled.

"You're smiling now? Is that because of-"

"The character transformation, yep!"

"Wow... Ippan really changes you and your personality."

"Yes, yes I do." Ippan replied, using Hikaru as his middle man.

"So... You don't know what your ability is?"

"Again, no."

"Well, try to like summon something, like Amu-senpai and her heart rods!"

"Okay..." He focused on trying to conjure up an item, and he felt something cold and plastic resting in his hands. "Eh...? A video game controller?"

"So you're a gamer...?" Rikka deducted.

"No..." Hikaru pressed one of the buttons, and a beam of light blasted from the front of the controller. "A-Ah!"

"WOOOWWWW. HIKARU, HOW'D YOU DO THAT?!"

"I just pushed this button..."

"OOH! SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PUSH TWO OF THEM! TWO!" Rikka yelled enthusiastically.

"_She's louder than usual." _Hikaru thought, before pushing down the red and blue buttons. Two different beams shot out, before intertwining into one spiral of light. "Wow... So this is my ability..."

"It's going to be so cool to see you fighting X-Eggs Hikaru-kun!"

"Fighting X-Eggs, isn't it going to be ironic, I'm going to be fighting the things that I made so many of."

"Mhm! All that's left is to show you to the whole crew!"

"I actually have to-"

"CMON HIKARU-KUUUUUNNNN"

"Coming..."

**(There it is! :D. Sorry that it's a bit short, but I still hope you guys enjoyed :D. The next chapter will possibly have Aruto telling some of his story and a Kutau chapter. Cheers!)**


	30. Nagisa and Sunohara

**(Gagh, Sorry that chapter 30 took so long! I tried to take a break and enjoy some of my old games, but I just can't xD. I MUST WRITE FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE! Anyways, yeah. Hope you enjoy :D)**

"I..."

He waited for her answer, the anticipation and anxiety building up within him.

"Do. Yes, I do like you." She smiled at him.

"_AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEE!" _He jumped out of his seat, drawing dozens of glances to him. "O-Oops..." He scratched the back of his head, a wide grin on his face. "W-Wow... It was this easy..."

"Now all we have to do is tell Tomoya-kun, right?"

"Eh!? Y-You knew about Tomoya too!?"

"Mhm. Yaya-sempai told me about both of you."

"_Yaya-sempai... If I wasn't so happy, I'd kill you." _

Speak of the devil, Tomoya entered the theater then, and sat down again.

"Hey, Tomoya." Sunohara whispered happily.

"Hn?"

"Nagisa-chan said yes."

"W-Wha.." He looked past Sunohara to Nagisa, who had a sympathetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry, Tomoya-kun, I like Sunohara." She said softly, trying not to upset him the best she could.

Tomoya didn't say anything in response, instead he quietly stood up and walked out of the theater, silent.

"What just happened, Sunohara?" Nagisa asked, confused that Tomoya hadn't shown more emotion.

"He's freaked out, but instead of showing it, he's trying to contain himself while he's in public." Sunohara reasoned. He knew that Tomoya wasn't expecting any opposition, so this was a shock to him. "_I don't feel as good as I thought I would telling him about me and Nagisa-chan. I guess I saw it like some kind of battle, and I've had to kill my opponent..." _Even though, he still had a girl two years older than him admit she liked him back, and he had to enjoy this moment. "T-Thank you, Nagisa-chan."

"No, thank you, Sunohara. I appreciate you going to such lengths to try to win my affection."

He didn't know how to respond to that, so he just grabbed Nagisa's hand, and started to watch the movie again.

"A-Ah..." She turned red, but liked that, a boy holding her hand.

"_This... Is perfect." _

**(There it is! Sorry that it's so short, having a bit of writer's block, but I can't allow you guy's not to have at least ONE new chapter today! I hope you enjoyed it, though! Cheers, Kanto.)**


	31. A Proper Explanation, 8 Few Days Ago

**(I'm baaaaccck! Fourth of July took me away for quite a few days, but now I'm back and ready to write :D. Shoutout to my two latest followers by the way, GreenLavender and ClannadChara! Anyways, as always, I hope you enjoy!)**

"Where do I begin?"

"Don't ask me, you're the one telling the story."

"Well, when I left Tokyo, I didn't have much. Only 700,000 Yen, an extra pair of shoes, and my mind." He looked out to the receding waves. "The lattermost wasn't in too good of shape either."

"Why did you l-"

"All questions for the end, Ikuto." Aruto interrupted, before continuing. "But I guess I'll make an exception for that question. My answer, I don't honestly know. I felt that there was something more that I could do, not just for myself, but for all of you. All I was was some violinist, I didn't have a steady income, nor did I have the time that I should've to spend with my children. I thought I could gain more time by journeying out, but it seems that all I did was distance myself more from the people I was trying to get closer to." He sighed. "I journeyed from town to town, picking up an old violin somewhere along the way. Those times are just more of a blur, all I did was play a song or two, scrape the money together I earned, and pay for my food and lodging. It was the same for every single town, nothing ever changed."

"Then how'd you end up here?" Ikuto asked, soaking up every word of this story, trying to get the explanation for something that needed to have been explained a long time ago.

"I got thrifty, I suppose. I started to earn more money, and spend less. I stopped going to the small villages, and I stuck to the more wealthy metropolises. Even with the money though, I wasn't sure where I should go. I debated and argued with myself, I thought of Rome, Milan, Venice, Paris."

"So I was right, Paris was a place you would've gone."

"Mm. But then I realized that the French culture was so different from the Japanese, so much so that I would never be able to truly fit in. Here in America however, there's over One Million people directly from Japan living here, and another Four Million from the Indonesian area. More of my people here, people whom I could relate to. So I got the cheapest plane ticket I could find, from Osaka to Crescent City, and then here I was. I've been in the same place for a while now, haven't I?" Aruto finished, turning his attention to Ikuto.

"Well, what now?" Ikuto asked. "What are you going to do now, I've heard the story, I've heard your reasoning, but what I haven't heard is what your plans are for right here and now."

"Hmm... I wonder."

**(Transition.)**

"L-Look, I'm here to say I'm-" Kairi was cut off as the door slammed abruptly in his face. "_I guess I shouldn't have expected her to listen to me so quick..." _"I'm not going away Amu-san, you might as well just let me in!" He called.

"_What's he thinking, showing up to my house!? What if Tadase-kun sees him!? He'll get the wrong idea!" _Amu thought frantically, Kairi could be stubborn at the worst times, and he didn't sound as if he was going to leave. She could let him in to see what he had to say, but she didn't feel like talking to him. On the other hand, if she didn't let him in, he'd be visible to anyone coming by, including Tadase and the rest. "_What am I supposed to do...?" _She sighed, she knew she couldn't leave him out there. "Fine. But if you pull anything, I'm going to literally kill you." She called back, before opening the door. "Get in. Now."

Kairi obliged, he was in no position to be objecting to anything she was saying. "I'm just here to say that I'm sorry."

"For what? For kissing me when I have a boyfriend? For secretly coordinating some kind of love competition showdown with said boyfriend behind my back? Or are you apologizing for telling said boyfriend and an entire audience that I kissed you?" She muttered angrily.

"All three, though Hotori-kun has some blame in the second one."

"Tadase's not at fault here, you are, Kairi." She couldn't stand the sight of him anymore, she wanted him gone now that he was done.

"I suppose that's true..." Kairi murmured. "B-But I was hoping that we could make amen-"

"No. No amends, no nothing. Not now, not ever. Goodbye." She opened the door, gesturing him to walk out.

"Ah... Alright then, I guess I'll be leaving." He stepped out of the Hinamori household, onto the concrete walkway, hearing the wooden door slam behind him. "_She'll calm down, right? This is just her speaking out of shock and grief, she'll come back around, just like she did eight few days ago."_

_"Eight days ago..."_


	32. Volunteer Work?

**(Allrrrighty, We're already at Chapter 32! :D. Shoutout to my latest follower, Lucy112358! You guys really don't know how much I appreciate your reviews, favorites, and follows ^.^)**

"Really? Right in your face?"

"Mm."

"I guess you should've

Those words made him flinch, she had put it rather bluntly. "Y-You think so, Rima-chan?"

"_I just spoke what was on my mind instantly... I guess I just have to give him the hard truth." _"Yes. She was in love with Hotori before you came here the first time, when you were here, and after you left. I don't think anything's changed, whatsoever."

"So I'm just supposed to give up? That's it?" Rima obviously knew Amu better than he did, so was she right? "_Have I truly lost?" _

"Not necessarily."

"Hn?"

"While I don't approve of you trying to take Amu-chan away from Tadase, you do have some kind of chance left. After all, she did get over Ikuto, no?" Rima recalled the Cat-boy. "_Still gives me the creeps though, a senior in High School hitting on a 6th grader... Beh." _

"I guess she did, didn't she?" Kairi smiled, Mashiro was actually cheering him up, not putting him down like he expected. "You know, you can be pretty helpful sometimes, Rima."

"_Helpful, eh?"_ Rima didn't consider that to be very helpful, she was just stating the obvious."Thanks."

"Anyways, where do you want to go?" Kairi asked, they didn't have a plan whatsoever, Kairi had just called Rima and she had come where he told her to.

"_No, I agreed to meet him. That way it doesn't sound as if he's ordering me around." _"Er, I don't honestly know. Where do you want to go, Kairi?"

"Don't ask me. I'm offering for wherever you want to go."

"But I don't know where I want to go."

"So we have a bit of a predicament?"

"Mhm."

"Well, how about the flower showing arrangement? They just put it up a few days ago."

"Eh? Flower showing? Isn't that more for... Couples?" Rima asked._  
_

"I guess they can be, but you already know who I like anyways." _"Exactly, so she shouldn't be concerned, right?"_

"Heh, guess I do. Sure, arrangement it is."

**(T**-**T-T-Transition!)**

"Oi, give me a hand, will you?" She struggled with a large stack of multi-colored papers, walking clumsily side to side.

"Ah, sure, Shanta-chan." He took off around half of the papers, hearing her exhale.

"I'm too weak for this job..." Shanta grumbled.

"We both volunteered, didn't we?"

"It was YOUR idea to volunteer, Nagi. You just came to me and said 'Oh by the way, Shanta, I may have kinda signed your name on this form saying that you kinda have to help out.'"

"I didn't want to volunteer alone, so I signed your name too, what's the problem?" Nagihiko forced a smile, the weight of the papers made it harder to speak, no wonder that the small Shanta almost collapsed under the things.

"Meh. I shouldn't even have to answer that. But of all things to sign up for, you picked the flower showing? Really? This isn't the kind of job a boy would sign up for." She laughed, before adding. "Unless you're really a girl." An evil smirk came onto her face.

"Do you want me to give you these papers back?"

"No." The smirk vanished, as she vigorously shook her head.

"Didn't think so." He sighed, stopping. "The only reason I signed up for this was because it was either THIS, or working at the zoo as a-"

"EH?! AT THE ZOO?! WHY DIDN'T YOU SIGN US UP FOR THAT?!" Shanta loved animals, and Nagihiko knew that. "_Meanie probably just wanted to tell me that as a joke."_

"Because we were going to be washing the animals." Nagihiko finished his sentence, Shanta was normally a calm girl, but animals for whatever reason made her get all hyper. Probably something do with their fluffyness.

"And?"

"ALL the animals."

"As in the lions and the tigers?"

"Mhm."

"WHAT IDIOT WOULD GIVE THAT JOB TO 7TH GRADERS?!"

"Idiots short on cash." Nagihiko sighed, before continuing walking. "How much farther until we get to the entrance?"

"Erm... We'll probably be there in a minute or two?" She guessed, she had no idea where they were going.

"You don't know?"

"Not really, I threw away our map by accident..."

"Our map?" He snapped his attention to her, a look of annoyed disbelief in his eyes. "As in the map we needed to use to navigate around this event?"

"Yeah... That one..." She awkwardly admitted.

"You. Lost. The. Map?"

"I just said that, didn't I?"

"You can be so useless sometimes, Shanta."

"H-Hey! Don't say that to a girl!"

"How do I know that you're a girl?"

"Do you want to be slapped, Nagihiko?"

"Sorry."

They kept walking on the cobblestone path, until the main building came into sight.

"Oh thank god, my arms are going to fall off if I go any longer." Shanta gasped for air, she really WAS weak.

"Save your energy, talking just saps it away." He muttered.

"Meh, I don't care_._ I'm in a talkative mood." Shanta ignored him. "Isn't it nice though? There's all these couples around, even some OUR age!"

"Our age?" _"Maybe Amu-chan's here with either one of the guys." _"Where do you see them?"

"Over there, the girl with the blonde hair is with that guy with the black hair." She gestured with her head to their right.

He turned to where she had notioned, and he saw them. He hardly noticed when the papers slipped out of his hands and onto the ground. Nor did he notice Shanta's annoyed voice asking how stupid could he be to drop those flyers after they'd walked so far. He noticed none of that. All he was focused on was Rima Mashiro and Kairi Sanjo.

"_I'm going to kill_ _him..." _

**(There we are! ^.^. Sorry that it took so long again, me enjoying anime and games as well as writer's block has really made the chapter's come at a slower pace. If I get into a groove later, I will upload another chapter, but no promises. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!)**


	33. The Encounter, a Phone, and a Confession

**(Sorry it took so long, I just bought some Copic markers, so I've been playing with them for a bit ^.^. That, and I watched more anime. Never can get enough of the stuff. Btw, I know that this chapter has a OOCness, I'll elaborate on that a bit more at the very bottom as to not give away the story, but do know that it WAS intentional. So yeah xD. Hope you enjoy Chapter 33, twice the length of the previous longest chapter :D)**

"Ah, it looks like they've done a good job with all of this..." Kairi observed, his eyes darting from the displays he could see from the perimeter of the display.

"Mm..." Rima looked around the park, it was a nice, beautiful day, and the sun shown brightly down. It was similar to a paradise... Until he saw _him. _"K-K-K-K-Kai-"

"Hn?" He turned to Rima, to see her pointing ahead, a tinge of surprise illuminated in her eyes. "What is it-" His question was answered without a single word, he saw what had left her stuttering. Or rather who. "A-Ah..."

Nagi was infuriated. How else could you put it? Enraged? Maybe. But these feelings weren't towards Rima. No no no, they were towards Kairi Sanjo,the one who was supposed to be in love with Amu Hinamori. The one who had challenged Tadase Hotori for her love. The one who claimed to have traveled across the country for one girl's heart. "_And that girl wasn't Rima Mashiro!" _It was so out of character for him, his calm, collected self had disappeared, replaced with a determined, angry, and most of all, disappointed persona.

"W-What do we do..." Kairi asked, now that he thought about it, he realized what this situation looked like. "_It doesn't look like I'm casually coming here with a friend. It looks like I'm coming here on a date, when I'm in love with another girl. To top it off, the girl I'm with rejected the guy who's running towards us, who probably already doesn't like me because I'm challenging Tadase-san for Amu-chan's love. When Rima-chan asked if it was mainly for couples, I didn't think we'd LOOK like a couple, even if it is something couples do... Ah... I'm screwed."_

"Tell him the truth?" Rima suggested, she and Nagihiko had gotten back on good terms for the most part, a bit of awkwardness had still hung around them, but they had maintained their friendship. This was the reason she had had her doubts in the beginning though, a boy and a girl going to the flower arrangement looks more like a couple than just friends, and judging by Kairi's reaction, it looked as if he had completely realized this too. "_Took him long enough, didn't it?" _

"Will he believe the truth?"

"P-Probably not... But what else can we say?" Rima said, Nagihiko was gaining ground on them, and judging by the way he was running full speed at them, it was her impression that he wasn't exactly happy.

"Good point, there's no point whatsoever in lying." Kairi adjusted his glasses, newly replaced. "We might just pull this off."

"_He makes it sound as if we're lying... Meh, I guess it doesn't matter what he says before, as long as he convinces Nagi that we're not a couple." _

He finally reached them, he wasn't built for long sprints, at all. A basketball court was just over 90 feet long, and that wasn't a piece of cake to run down. This was longer than 90 feet. Much longer. "_While I'd love to completely and utterly rip into him, I'll listen to his explanation." _He'd lost his calm mentality, but not all of his common sense.

"Oh, Nagihiko-kun, hello!" Kairi greeted the dark blue haired boy, two years senior to him. "I didn't see you coming up on us." He lied.

"Hah... N-Nice to see you too, Kairi-kun." He gasped for air, saying his name with a forced friendlyness. "And you, Rima-chan."

"Hello, Nagi." Rima adopted her usual petite cool, as if she was attending a formal event. "Why might you be here?"

"I'm a volunteer for the show today, I was helping carry the entrance papers for all attending. What. Might. Bring. You. Two. Here?" He asked, mainly directing the question at Kairi. _  
_

"Oh, well that's coincidental." Kairi smiled. "Mashiro-san and I were just about to attend the showing ourselves." _"Good, I used san and her last name. No sign of affection whatsoever."_

"Really? So you're just attending as friends, or something?"

"Exactly." Rima and Kairi answered instantly, in perfect sync.

"Isn't it a bit odd for friends to come to one of these showings, Kairi-kun?" Nagihiko asked, he wasn't buying their story. At all.

"H-Heh, that's what Rima said." He chuckled to himself. "In hindsight, I guess it would look like we're-"

"Dating? Yes, yes it would." He finished his sentence for him, he'd also caught Sanjo calling Rima just by her first name. "_Another hole blown in his story, or rather, _their _story." _Was their the possibility that Kairi was just referring to Rima as a friend? Of course, but Nagihiko wouldn't see it that way. His mind had been set, and it was going to take a lot of flawless convincing to convince him otherwise that these two were not on a date.

"W-Well, it was nice talking to you, Fujisaki-san, Rima and I actually really have to go, r-right?" He wanted out of this situation, Nagihiko was obviously not considering what they were saying to be true, and he probably wasn't going to sway from that either.

"R-Right..." _"C-Crap... I stuttered... Why? We have nothing to hide, we're telling the full truth here. There is nothing going on between me and Sanjo..." _A new idea then hit her though, like a ton of bricks. "_Is it the thought of being in a relationship with Kairi-kun that's making me like this...?" _She couldn't answer that for herself, so she started to follow Kairi, matching his slow pace._  
_

"_She stuttered." _Nagihiko instantly took that in, was she just faking this calm attitude? Her stuttering just showed that she was nervous about something. _"And what is there to be nervous about if you're just attending an event with a friend...?"_

"Hah, you think you can get away that easily?" Nagihiko asked. "I'm not done, yet. Nor am I buying your little 'friends' story."

"What's up with you, Nagihik-" Kairi started to ask.

"What's _up _is that you're apparently in love with Amu Hinamori. Or did you forget that,

"Who's saying that I'm not in love with Amu-chan?"

"Well, I am. Considering you're here at a lovey-dovey event with a girl, it doesn't look like you're exactly committed, no?"

"Your opinion won't change no matter what we tell you, will it? I'm done trying to convince you, see if I care what you think of this entire situation." Kairi didn't look back, though he kept his slow pace.

_"_You'll care. I can tell you that, for sure." A sly grin had come onto his face.

"Hn?" He stopped, and turned to face Fujisaki. "What are you playing at?"

"You see, I never forget to bring my phone with me." He held up his flip-phone, open. "And with a few hits of a directional pad and a green button, I can call someone and tell them about this entire situation." He was completely out of character now, he was now threatening Kairi with blackmail. "You probably have a good idea of whom I'm talking about."

"You wouldn't..." Kairi was taken aback, this had escalated far faster and farther than he would've ever imagined.

"Oh-Ho, yes, yes I would. Amu would be quite interested in all of this, wouldn't she? My, she'd probably never talk to you again." He was in far too deep now, his sense of righting a wrong had overpowered his own sense of what was right and wrong to say.

"_Nagi... What are you doing? What's going on with you?" _Rima was petrified, Nagihiko had turned into something horrible, he was now conniving and sly. _"What does this remind me of... Oh! Amu-chan and Tadase... When Tadase lost his temper..." _This was such a similar situation, except for they weren't fighting over her, not exactly, atleast. "_  
_

_"_Then what do you want me to say? That we are?" Kairi asked.

"Exactly. I just want the truth out of you. I'll keep the secret, don't worry. Just tell me the truth and Amu and Tadase don't find out a thing. It'll be our little secret..."

"I won't tell you anything that's not true, Fujisaki-kun." He kept a stone face, he wouldn't give in, he'd call his bluff.

"Heh, still not fessing up? Shame then, looks like I have a call to make..." Nagihiko turned the phone towards him, and there were a few audible beeps as he hit the phone's directional pad. "I'm now on her number, Kairi. Are you sure there's no true confession you want to make? You know whom she'll believe, her good old friend Nagihiko Fujisaki. She won't trust the boy who just tore her heart in half, now will she?"

Kairi remained silent, he had nothing more to say. _"He's right, my hands are tied now though, I don't want to involve Rima in all of this. I have no options now."_

_"_Fine, I'm done trying to get it out of you." He raised his finger up, an evil glint in his eyes. "_This is what you get for toying with the emotions of my friends, Sanjo." _He slowly lowered it, knowing the commitment he was about to make. "_3... 2... 1-"_

"WE'RE DATING!" Rima shouted.

"What!?" Kairi and Nagihiko snapped their attention to her.

"You were right, Kairi and I came here on a date. I was the one who invited him though, I thought he was feeling down after the whole Love-Shout incident, and I thought this was my chance to get closer to him..." Why was it so easy to fabricate this? It had come out so easily, as if _this _was the true story.

"Heh. At least someone is honest." Nagihiko closed the phone, and slid it back into his back pocket. "I'm pretty surprised actually, I was having some doubts about the entire thing, but I know the truth now. I'll be true to my word though, I won't tell Amu-chan about any of this. For both of your sakes." He kept the smirk on his face, he'd gotten what he wanted, he had no more reason to stick around. "Then, I'll see you." He walked off without another word, back in the direction he came from. "_Shanta won't be happy, but that was worth it. Every last second, worth it."_

"M-Mashiro-san..." Kairi turned to Rima, who was now silent. "I-I..." He didn't know what to say, except for: "Thank you."

"Don't worry about it." She replied quietly. "That's what friends are for, right?"

"I guess...? You really exceeded more than the 'friend' level though, I appreciate it. I don't think I would've been able to do that."

"It was nothing, honestly." She assured him, losing the quiet in her voice. "It saved us both a lot of trouble, so I was happy to do it."

"If you insist. I don't know what got into him, do you?"

"No, I honestly don't." She watched him walk away, towards the sun that was still shining so brightly, even if it seemed to have dimmed in her eyes.

"_Nagi... What just happened?"_

**(AND THERE IT IS! I really hope you guys did enjoy this chapter, even with the OOC Nagihiko. It took by far the longest time for me to write, and I think it's my best chapter yet. Regarding the OOCness, my original plan was for this to be some basic chapter, where the misunderstanding gets resolved and everything is just fine. But that didn't seem interesting enough, it wouldn't really progress the story, and it'd just be an uninteresting and boring chapter. So, that's my reasoning, all in the name of creating interesting content :D. Again, I hope you truly enjoyed, and sorry for the wait. ****-Kanto.)**


	34. Issues to fix, Strawbucks

**(Konnichiwa Minna! Hello Everyone! Here's Chapter 34, I suddenly got inspired to write some more. Anyways, hope you enjoy! Cheers. Oh, Just remembered, this is another week since the last chapter, so you guys know ^.^.)**

"Tadase? Wake up." No response, a prick of annoyance started to edge his temper. "_This is like the fourth time in a row I've had to wake him up..." _"A true King rises before the sun Tadase!" Still nothing. "Sigh... Should I just set his alarm clock one minute ahead?" "_Why didn't I think about that four days ago, certainly better than throwing a paper cup full of hot tea on him." _Yeah... Tadase wasn't exactly happy with him after that, either. He floated over to his owner's clock, which read in bright blue letters: "11:27" "So all I have to do is click this." He pushed a button back. "Hit this, and then this." The alarm clock lived up to it's promise of easy operation, for even a miniature would-be self could use it. "_Now all I have to do is wait a minute..."_

_"60..."_

_"59..." _

_"58..."_

**...**

_"3..."_

_"2..."_

_"1!"_

"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEPPP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!"

"AHBEHFEHAHEH?!" Tadase was instantly awoken by the disturbing noise, which seemed louder than usual. "Did you try to wake me up again, Kiseki...?"

"Heheh... I didn't merely try, I succeeded!" Kiseki looked oddly proud, considering he had only clicked a few buttons.

"Well, it's better than waking up to have burning liquid on your face, I guess." Tadase conceded, flipping the alarm off.

"How many times do I have to apologize for that...?"

"Many more." He slid out of bed, rubbing his eyes. "Well, I'm finally awake. I've been sleeping more lately, haven't I?"

"Yeah... Ever since you went to Love-Shout! you've been a bit off..." "_Ah, I didn't mean to say that out loud."_

"Have I?" Tadase looked at his chara as if he had no knowledge of anything that had gone wrong. "Hm, that's odd. Maybe I should cut down on the tea then."

"Mm... So, Tadase."

"Hn?"

"What will we do today?" Maybe he could convince him to get out today, he'd just been helping his mother and grandmother lately.

"Well, I hear Mother is tending to the garden today, so she doesn't need my help. Grandmother said she would be resting for the next few days... Seems like there isn't much for us to do..."

"Let's go out then! We can meet with everyone else!" Kiseki pounced on the opportunity.

"Ha, you've been wanting to get out for a while now, haven't you? Sure, who should I invite and to where, Kiseki?"

"E-Eh?! I don't know, invite everyone." He suggested.

"Everyone? As in?"

"Aw, you know, Tadase. Rima, Nagihiko, Kukai, Utau, Amu, and Kairi!" Yep, that was the entire crew.

"_Kairi and Amu... Invite them... Meh, I can't hide from them forever, can I?" _"Alright, I'll invite them. Where should we go then, Kiseki?"

"You're still asking me... Oh! Why don't you go down to that new Cafe down on Saye Street!"

"Cafe?" He went through his memories. _"What cafe... Cafe... Not the Aoyama cafe... No.. Not that one..." _"Erm... What cafe is that again, Kiseki?"

"Really? You don't remember?" He looked at Tadase with utter disbelief. "Come on, Nagihiko was talking all about it a few days ago."

"Oh... You mean Strawbucks?"

"Yeah! He was talking about how he couldn't believe the place hadn't been sued."

"That's right... And he said that for a copy, it was pretty nice. Alrighty, all of us are going to Strawbucks!"

**...**

An American song played in the background, the small clings and clangs of silverware the only other sound. For seven people, it was deadly silent. Even Kukai, normally so full of energy seemed to be at a loss for words, he'd picked up on the awkwardness and didn't know what to do. Even their guardian charas floated in silence.

"So..." Amu tried to start some sort of conversation, they'd already been sitting quietly for five minutes. "It's nice to see everyone again." Mumbles of agreement came from Nagihiko, who kept on shooting glares at Kairi ever so often. _"What's up with them..." _

"_Of course, I end up sitting next to Rima, which seems to just tick Fujisaki off. Irony... How despicable you are."_

"So, Tadase." Utau finally spoke, completely breaking the silence. "Why did you invite us all down here? Or rather, why me? I hardly know you except for the fact that you're dating Amu..."

No one seemed to want to exactly reply, Tadase especially. "W-Well... I thought it'd be fun... And you're friends with Amu..."

Yeah, silence. It returned.

"Alright, that's it." It was now Rima who spoke. "We have some issues we need to sort out, don't we?"

"Hn?" Kukai and Utau looked at each other, clueless. "Issues? What do you mean?"

"W-Well... Kairi and I... Are actually fighting for Amu."

"Fighting... For Amu-chan?" Utau repeated, turning her head to look at Amu. You could tell that it was true, just by how uncomfortable she looked. "As in... Like you're fighting for her love."

"Exactly." Kairi and Tadase said in unison, before shooting both a glare.

"Ah..." Welp, this was awkward. _"Let's just sit back and watch this play out, I'm sure not getting involved." _

"Well... I suppose I should apologize to you, Hotori-san." Kairi adjusted his glasses, "I shouldn't have said what I did, I went overboard in the heat of the moment."

"That's ri-" Ran started to belittle Kairi, but she was instantly restrained by Miki and Kusu-Kusu. "Hmmphghhhfthfh..." She gave up trying to say anymore, but the other two still held onto her as a safety precaution.

"And to you, Amu-chan." She still didn't look up from the floor, but she was listening. "I shouldn't have revealed something so confidential in a public place, for that, I'm also sorry." He'd planned what he was going to say all the way to the cafe, and it had seemed easier than he had expected. "_Hn. Is it that more confident than I thought?"_

"Well, thank you for the apology, Sanjo-kun. While I accept it, I'm honestly not sure if I fully forgive you, in all honesty. Though I still do appreciate it." It's odd how this way playing out, he guessed he'd been expecting everything to be in a more cheerful tone. _"Heh, that was a bit foolish. Considering the major problem we need to work out." _"After all, you did betray all of my trust and expec-"

"H-Hey! Everything's fair in love and war, right?" Rima interjected, drawing all of the attention to her. "E-Eh... Sorry..." She murmured, settling back into her seat.

"Don't be." Tadase looked at her, a princely look in his eyes, reminiscent of his Guardian days. "I suppose you're right, all is fair in love and war."

"To a certain extent." Kairi couldn't believe Hotori was agreeing with Rima on the subject, nontheless that Rima had even said anything. _"Why is she on my side...? I've honestly been nothing more than a trouble to all of her friends." _

"No! Nein! Niet!" El's high pitched voice came from behind them. "ALL is fair in love and war. ALL!"

"El..." Utau looked at her Chara with a piqued annoyance. "I should've left you at home."

"No, you shouldn't have! Because El's love radar is off the charts now! Someone here is in love!"

All seven stared at her with utter disbelief, similar to how Kiseki had looked at Tadase earlier.

"El..." Amu began. "Think about it, Kairi and Tadase are in love with me. We know that."

"And I'm in love with Utau..." Kukai looked at the little angel. "We know that too."

"And I still have a crush on Rima..." Nagihiko reminded everyone. "Everyone is accounted for."

"NoNoNo! El's radar indicates new love! NNNNEWWWWWWWW."

"New love?" Tadase looked around the table, wasn't everyone in love with someone? "So... Everyone here just said who they have a crush on except for..."

_"Don't understand... Please don't say me..."_

"Rima!"

"_Dang it..." _

Amu looked over at Nagihiko, who wasn't displaying any emotion whatsoever. _"Hmph. I thought he would've had more reaction to that declaration... After all, he just said he had a crush on Rima."_

"Precisely! And if I just get closer..." El floated until she was right in Rima's face, who's face had started to turn a hue of pink. "Yes! There is no mistaking this reading! This is where the new love is coming from!"

"Eh?! Really?" Amu looked at Rima in surprise. "You have a crush on someone?!"

"Mm..." Rima murmured, shifting uncomfortably.

"Who?" Tadase and Amu asked together, they hadn't expected Rima to get involved in a relationship for a long while. Rima didn't answer.

"Heheh... You can't keep your feelings hidden from El for long! For, I have this!" El pulled out a small pink circle electronic, so small that it fit in HER palm. "The Love Directioner finder 5000! Patent pending! If I take this." She pulled out a miniature suction cup from one side, and stuck it onto Rima's finger. "And then place this one here." She pulled out another suction cup, and placed it on Tadase's forehead, suspending the pink circle in midair. "So now if I click this little red heart, it'll send me a transmission that tells me how much Rima loves Tadase!" She waited for a second, before looking at the incredibly small display screen. "Out of 100, Rima loves Tadase on a level of... 14. So she's not in love with him... A score of 1-20 means she finds him to be a friend, 21-40 as a best friend, 41-60's a crush, 61-90 is a small love, and 91-100 is fully in love."

"Well, atleast that doesn't complicate matters any further, so that's a relief for me. How did you get this kind of technology?" Tadase asked.

"Osaka." El answered.

"O-Oh... Erm..."

"NO QUESTIONING EL AND HER DEVICES! Now it's time to test Kukai..." Her personality fluctuated from intense to neutral in a split second. She went through the exact same routine. "Hmm... Three. Definitely not him."

"Aw, I was hoping for a love tria-" Kukai started to comment, but he noticed Utau giving him a death glare. "W-Wait! No, I mean, I want you! Y-Yeah, that's what I meant. You're the only one for me, you know?! R-Right?! I kissed you and all-"

"We'll talk about this later." Utau muttered.

"_Crap... That'll probably consist of Karaoke... More... Karaoke... God help me."_

"Nagihiko, you're next!" El proclaimed, floating towards the blue haired boy.

"You really don't need to test me, do you? She already turned me down once, I don't really want to hear her feelings again."

"No one gets out of this, Nagi! Now shaddup!"

Nagihiko just sighed and gave in, he might as well just get over Rima. "_Watch it be a "1""_

"So... Nagihiko's score is... Oh, wow."

"Eh?" Nagihiko looked at the angel. "What?"

"You scored a 39. Just outside the barrier for a crush. So you're close, but no cigar."

"R-Really? H-Heh..." _"ALL HOPE IS NOT LOST FOR NAGIHIKO FUJISAKI! Oh wait, yes it is, because she's dating Kairi... How exactly did I forget that in the span of three minutes?" _

"So, the last boy to test here is Kairi-kun! Ready?"

"E-Erm... Yeah?" _"C-Crap... Fujisaki will find out that we're not actually dating once she scores a grade in "friends." What will he do then?" _Yet again, his hands were tied, but this time there was literally nothing he could do. "_Well, I could run, but that'd make it look like I have a crush on Rima-chan, and in front of Amu too... Gagh... Oh well, maybe he'll show his good side now."_

El pushed down the little heart, and started intently at the little monitor. If this was a low score, she'd have no chance of possibly finding the boy Mashiro liked. Then, it was done. "Hmm... Eh?!"

She had caught everyone's attention now. "What is it, El? Another 30 something score?" Tadase asked.

"No... She scored a 94..."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Amu and Tadase looked at Rima, then Kairi. "S-So she's in love with Kairi!?"

"T-That's what the machine says..." The angel sighed. "I didn't think it was going to be this easy..."

"B-But, Kairi is in love with Amu!" Tadase proclaimed, had Mashiro gone mad? As they confusingly expressed their, well, confusion, Kukai and Utau slowly crept away from the scene.

"We were never here..."

"Agreed."

"M-Mashiro-san..." "_What in the world..." _Kairi thought, she was in love with _him_!?

"Hehe... Looks like you've got me..."

**(Another long chapter for you guys! :D. It seems that I write more and better when it's late at night, so I may just start writing from this time spot. Sorry to my US viewers, but my foreign viewers will like it more :P. I'm now making the story progress faster than it normally has been, and I think it's safe to say that we're heading to the end now, not instantly, but I'd say it's starting to wrap up. Again, I have to thank you all for reading, and for your support up to this! Thanks, all of you,**

**-Kanto.)**


	35. His True Feelings?

**(No Authors note this time. Enjoy.)**

"_They've found me out... They know it all, I'm in love with a boy who's in love with my friend, who doesn't love him back. How did I get wrapped up in this situation? Why did it have to be Kairi? Kirishima-kun even tried asking me out again a few months ago, and Nagi confessed to me. I had two boys who were interested in me, and I chose neither for someone who's shown no interest whatsoever..." _What was she going to do now? Kairi knew, Amu knew, Nagi knew, _everyone _knew. "I-It's not wrong... The device..."

"B-But..." Kairi was left speechless, and he looked around at the others. Nagihiko had, not surprisingly, shown little emotion, he believed Rima fully that the two were dating. Amu and Tadase were exchanging surprised glances, Kairi wasn't very likable to them anymore, especially Tadase. But now what was he supposed to do?

"Well, at least it's come out now." Nagihiko murmured.

"E-Eh? You knew, Nagi!?" Amu asked her friend, how long had he been hiding this.

"Hm. Yeah, I did." He admitted. "Sorry Sanjo, but I think it's time that they know about the little date the two of you were on."

"Date!?" Tadase repeated, before turning to look at Kairi. "Sanjo, how many girls are you trying to get to fall for you? First you take Amu away from me, now you're dating Rima behind our backs!? You've violated all of the trust I put in you when we started this battle, and it takes someone _else _to fess up?"

"I-I can explain... Rima and I were out-"

"Why would the two of you be out!?" Amu interrupted, before directing a question at Rima.."Why did you fall for HIM?"

Rima didn't answer, so Kairi started talking again. "I can explain... Rima and I were out for a bit, we had planned to meet up and have some fun. I suggested that we go to the flower arrangement, just as something to do. Rima agreed, and we eventually got there. We were going there as _friends, _mind you."

"Doesn't look like Rima thinks of you only as a friend..." Nagihiko muttered.

"I didn't know that then, this is all news to me!" Kairi insisted, continuing his story. "We met Fujisaki there, he was apparently volunteering for the show."

"Yes, I was. That's how I found you two out."

"You found NOTHING out. The only reason why Rima told you we were dating was because you were threatening to tell Amu!"

"Threatening... To tell me?" Amu asked, before looking at Nagihiko. "Is that true? You were blackmailing him?"

"Only to get the truth! He's caused so much trouble for us already, and now that he's hit a wall he's started to date a girl that he has no opposition on whatsoever! And he knows that too, he knows that Rima rejected me, and I was the only boy who had a crush on her. With me completely out of the picture, there's no one else!" Nagihiko accused, this was how he truly viewed the entire subject.

"Let me just get this clear, I have NO feelings WHATSOEVER for Rima Mashir-" He stopped himself, remembering that the girl that he was admitting to have no feelings for was sitting right next to him.

_"No... Feelings... Whatsoever..." _That was how Kairi actually felt about her. "S-So..." Rima murmured. "You rather be with a girl who doesn't love you rather than one who does..." He couldn't come up with a response to that, because if he did, that was the same as admitting that Amu had no feelings for him. "I see..." She wanted out, out of this cafe, out of everyone's sights, and most of all, out of the feelings she felt for Sanjo. "I-I'll change your mind..."

"M-Mashiro..."

"Kairi." Amu caught his attention. "You're still fighting for my love, right?"

He nodded.

"Do you consider the possibility that you're just hiding your true feelings now, because you feel that you have an _obligation _to win my love?" She asked.

"Obligation...?"

"Y-Yeah... Like, you feel that you should be my boyfriend, because you promised to me that eventually you would be?"

"I... Hadn't ever thought of that..." He admitted, looking down at Rima.

_"What are my true feelings for Rima Mashiro...?" _

**(Dere it is! :D. I hope you guys really enjoyed it, sorry to keep you all in suspense. Having Three Fanfics is hard xD. I've left you with a cliffhanger here :P. By the way, in the last chapter I said that we were "starting to wrap up." I think we're actually pretty close to completely wrapping up in all honesty, I've gotten to the very last turning point in the story, and I think I want to have the end being a series of great, climactic chapters. We'll have to see, but there may be very few chapters left. Either way though, thank you for reading, please R&R if you feel like it, and I hope you have a nice day.)**


	36. The Choices Almost Made

**(C-C-Chapter 36 is here! :D. It looks like this may possibly be the 2nd or 3rd to last chapter, depending on how much I put in each chapter, but we're in the last five now. While you may get sick of me saying this over and over again, I want to thank all of you guys who have read up to this point, all of the people who have followed and favorited, as well as left their honest opinions down in the review section. I never expected this kind of response, so I'm really happy that I've been able to write for all of you guys and have you guys enjoy my stories. I'm sorry that it's taken this long again for this chapter, writer's block hit me like a brick wall. And, as I post this, my plans are to write a longer chapter later tonight, and consequently this chapter is going to be very, very short. But, this is all in the name of suspense, as I will leave you waiting for the final conclusion in the NEXT chapter :D. Hehehehe, I'm evil sometimes, aren't I? Hehe, enjoy...)**

He thought carefully, how did he feel towards Rima? Had he completely blocked out any other feelings he may have felt, with his mind guiding him towards a girl rather than his heart?

"I-I've made my decision already." Amu continued, uncomfortably.**  
**

"R-Really, Amu-chan?!" Tadase exclaimed, leaning over the table. "You have?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I have. But I want Kairi-kun to answer me first. I don't want to influence him one way or the other with my choice. So," She looked Sanjo in the eyes. "Kairi, how do you feel about Rima-chan?"

"_She's replicated my own thoughts..." _He struggled with them too, he had to make a ground breaking decision in seconds. He went through those thoughts, trying to sort through them. "_Trips to the park... Restaurants.. The flower arrangement..." _That last one was key, of all places, he had invited Rima to the flower showing arrangement. _"Was my brain reflecting how I really felt? No, that'd be ridiculous. Or is it..?"_

It was apparent that Kairi was struggling, it was to be expected. Rima knew that, even though she had wished that he had somehow realized instantly that he had feelings for her. "_If only El hadn't interfered with all of this.. Kairi would still be chasing after Amu, and I'd be able to keep my feelings secret."_

"_Coffee, yelling, comedy, clowns..." _He was replaying everything over again, everything he could remember from the last few weeks involving him and Rima. The tension in the air could be sliced by a knife, as all five of them sat in silence, staring intently at both Kairi and Amu. _"Rima's cute too... Eh? I.. Yeah... I.. Mm..."_

"W-Well, hey.." Nagihiko finally broke the silence, both his and the group's. "Why don't you just say it right now in unison? Kairi's obviously going to keep going back and forth, so I think it's best for him to just go with his first gut decision, as that's the one that's normally the right one. It won't be good for Rima either if he can never make up his mind." He sighed, before continuing. "So, Kairi, Amu. Tell us all, what are your final decisions?"

They both looked at each other, before nodding. This was the best way.

"I've chosen..."

**(Hehehe, I told you there'd be some suspense :P. While it's short, I hope you enjoyed this small bit, the final conclusion will be up in a few hours. So be prepared :D. Cheers.)**


	37. The Decisions

**(I'm glad to say that I actually have an excuse this time for taking so long with the chapter, I've been agonizing over this one, trying to make it the best I can. Since it's the most important one in the entire story, at least in my opinion. It's not the last one, that's for sure, though I think the next chapter will be the last. And so you know, I WILL NOT be on for around a week, I'm visiting family who I don't get to see often. Also, I'll tell you guys one thing, this chapter was almost impossible to write for me. As of me writing this on the final day of revising and adding, I've been in the midst of writer's block. I tried to make it longer, but I really couldn't do that without watering it down or adding clunky details. And I knew I couldn't keep you guys waiting for another 5 days. So you'll have to wait for the next chapter, but not this one. Enjoy, as here comes the moment you've all been waiting for! :D)**

They paused. It was only a few seconds, yet it felt like an eternity to Tadase and Rima. They were so alike, they'd both expressed their love, and that love hadn't been fully accepted.

"I've chosen..." Amu exhaled, before smiling. "Tadase."

_"Yes!" _Tadase could hardly contain himself from yelling out in victory as he jumped out of his chair and raced to Amu, giving her a hug that nearly knocked her out of her chair. "Thank you, Amu-chan..." He murmured in relief. "I love you."

"Tadase-kun.." Was she going to cry? Maybe. "I love you too. I don't deserve this, after all I've done to you, but I'm glad that you still love me."_  
_

"Of course, Amu. There was never a moment where I stopped loving you, nor will there ever _be_ such a moment. I will forever love you." He looked up at Kairi, no longer feeling burdened by glassed boy's presence. "But I think it's time we hear someone else's decision."

Amu stiffened slightly, she had momentarily forgotten about Kairi in her happiness. _"Even though I know I'd never go out with him now, will he still choose me? I wouldn't be able to date Tadase in peace if he does..." __  
_

"I'm sorry for not honoring our deal, I lost the words for a second there." He talked formally, adjusting his glasses before continuing on. "But I'm glad I did, as I can feel fully decisive now with my decision."

"At peace...?" Nagihiko repeated. "Meaning you've chosen-" He knew the answer to that question before he asked it, and before Kairi finished it for him.

Kairi nodded, smiling himself. "Rima." Was all of this just a waste? The fight for Amu? No, because of this fight, he'd found a different girl, one that he was in even more love with. He'd set out in search of one destination, only to find one much better.

A wave of relief washed over Amu, she'd never felt so good hearing that a boy wasn't in love with her. _"Everything will finally be normal again." _

"It's funny, I came here uncertain of what was going to happen, considering the terms all of us were apparently on. But when I saw you struggling with the thought of Mashiro-san being in love with you, I had a feeling that you'd choose her." Tadase admitted. "All and all, this situation's probably helped us all."

"Eh?" He glanced up at Hotori, confusion in his eyes. "Helped? Me? You?"

"Mm. I got to realize how much I care for her, since she had been momentarily taken away from me. If anything, it's strengthened our relationship. Now Mashiro has been able to confess her love to a boy she cares about. Even with the hard times, this entire experience has been a win, not a loss."

"I-I wouldn't say tha-" He stopped mid-sentence as he felt a tug on his shirt. "Eh..? Ah!" Rima was clutching onto the end of his polo, crystal tears falling from her eyes. "H-Hey! Don't cry! I chose _you _Rima! _You! _I realized that I'm in love with you Rima! So don't cry!" He crouched down so he was level with Rima, unable to figure out what was wrong.

"I'm crying because I'm happy, Kairi-bozu." She chuckled and looked Sanjo in the eyes, with tears still in her own. "I'm so glad... I'm so glad to hear you say that. That you love me."

"Rima..." He reached his arm out and grabbed her by her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. "I'm sorry I didn't realize this earlier, both yours and my own feelings.."

"Don't be." Rima said, putting her head on his shoulder. "You realize it now, and that's all that matters."

The other three watched them in silence, a joyful one at that. Finally, everyone was happy. That's the only true way of describing all of this. Tadase Hotori and Amu Hinamori were finally back together, as they should've been this entire time. Rima Mashiro and Kairi Sanjo had realized their love for one another, and a new relationship had kicked off. Even Nagihiko, watching the girl who he still held feelings for crying tears of joy because she was with someone else, was smiling for one simple reason.

Because that crying girl...

Was happy.


	38. The Conclusion

**(Hi everyone! Sorry that this hasn't been the five days I said it would be, my trip's been a lot longer than I expected xP. I feel really bad for leaving you guys hanging on this chapter, especially since it's probably the last one. I've just been obsessing over every single detail since it's probably going to be the ending, and a story's basically as good as it's ending. I hope you guys understand the wait though, and as always, I hope you enjoy this chapter! ^-^)**

Ah, the weather. The August sun shown so brilliantly, illuminating all below it. Especially in the Royal Gardens, the beams intensifying as they passed through the glass roof.

"We're here!"

"AMMMUUU-CHAAANNNNNNNNNN! EVVEEEERRRYOONNNEEEEEEEE." That was a familiar voice,

"Looks like Yaya-chan hasn't changed at all." Kairi whispered, a slight grin on his face. "She sure isn't any quieter." _  
_

"Yaya is so glad to see all of you! Yaya's been stuck with non-funny and boring Guardian's all summer!"

"_Thanks Yaya-sempai..." _Sunohara thought, irritated.

"Especially Sunohara-bozu!" She didn't make much of an effort to quiet her voice.

_"I will kill you one day..."_

"He's so bland and uninteresting!"

_"One. Day." _

"Well come sit at the table with Yaya and the boring Guardians!" Yaya exclaimed, turning around, oblivious to the three annoyed faces already sitting,

"I have the feeling that they aren't number one fans of her..." Tadase murmured, following Yaya.

"Oh really?" Amu answered in a sarcastic tone. "No idea where you got that CRAZY idea."

"What crazy idea?" Yaya turned around, overhearing the last few words.

_"Crap." _"Oh, uh, well, uh..." Amu tried to think up a lie, stalling. "There's going to be this group of thrill-seekers parachuting off of the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building later this Summer, and Kairi-kun was thinking about joining them."

"Eh...?" He looked over at Amu, who was gently nodding her head. "Ah! Y-Yeah, I thought it'd be cool, yeah! Jumping off of the Shintuku Sumatumi Building is a test of ultimate courage, r-right?" Kairi was almost as bad of a liar as Amu was, but he thought he'd done a pretty good job this time. "Was that convincing?" He asked Rima, leaning in.

"Not at all. You didn't even say the name right." She answered bluntly.

There was a slight pause in the conversation, before an excited gleam came into Yaya's eyes."Really? Kairi-kun wants to jump off of a skyscraper?"

"Y-Yeah, I do..." "_She bought it?" _

"THAT'S SO COOL!" Yaya yelled, thrusting a fist in the air. "After Sumitomo, you should jump off of Tokyo Tower!"

"H-Heh, yeah... Jump off of Tokyo Tower... Fun!" Now he'd done a great job this time, he was sure of it. "How was that one?" He leaned in again towards Rima, a smirk on his face.

"Horrible. Wipe that stupid grin off of your face too,

"Yaya-sempai!" Nagisa called, waving her hands. "The chocolates are starting to melt, you might want to hurry up and eat them!"

"The chocolates are melting!? YAYA BOUGHT THOSE CHOCOLATES JUST FOR TODAY! COME, COME EAT YAYA'S STORE BOUGHT CHOCOLATESSSSS!" She seemed more childish than normal, maybe she was just excited to see everyone again?

_"Nah, she's probably ate a few boxes of those chocolates before we got here..."_

**...**

"Mm. Those were actually pretty good..." Rima sat back in her chair, smiling

"Really? I wouldn't know, considering you ATE MINE." Kairi retorted.

"The guy is always supposed to give chocolates to his girlfriend, I took your present in advance."

"Eh? Girlfriend?" Yaya looked at the two of them. "Kairi-kun and Rima-chan are dating?!"

"Mhm." The two answered.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"

"Sempai, you're too loud..." Tomoya muttered, spinning his straw around his glass.

She whirled around to face him, pointing a finger right in his face. "You can never be too loud Tomoya-bozu!"

"Yes you can, and don't call me Tomoya-bozu."

"Yaya will call Tomoya-bozu Tomoya-bozu if Yaya-chan wants to!"

Tomoya didn't argue anymore, instead he just seem to give up, exhaling and closing his eyes.

"_The situation between these four is so tense that it's almost funny.." _Amu thought, hiding a smile. Sure, this hadn't been the kind of reunion celebration she'd been expecting, but still, it was nice to be back in the Gardens, they were still so familiar to her, it felt that she could easily be a Guardian for another year or two. "Oh. I just realized something." She'd broken the short but uncomfortable silence, so the attention was being directed towards her. "Why aren't _you _a Guardian, Kairi?"

"Oh, I never told anyone, did I?" Yaya was the only one who knew he was skipping grades. "My parents insisted that I challenge myself academically if I was going to move back here, so they had me skip a few grades. I'll be attending Fuju Jr. High with the rest of you."

"Eh? Really?!" Nagihiko looked up from his tea. "How'd that happen?"

"No idea." Kairi admitted. "I thought it was just fate or destiny, something like that."

"Heh, maybe it was."

"But fate aside, I'm sure glad that we got _this _whole situation sorted out before school began." Tadase said, chuckling slightly. "It'd be awkward if I had to sit next to Sanjo everyday if we were still fighting."

"Or if I sat next to Amu-chan."

"It's funny when you think about it, all of this got resolved pretty quickly, didn't it?" Amu recalled, no one seemed to hold any ill feelings towards one other. "It wasn't but what, a month or two ago when you two were absolute enemies?"

"So Yaya-sempai's stories were true, that Sanjo-sempai and Hotori-sempai were fighting over you, Hinamori-san?" Nagisa asked, adjusting her round glasses.

"Mhm." Amu nodded. "It wasn't fun."

"H-Heh, I think I know that feeling." Nagisa muttered.

"What was that?"

"O-Oh nothi-" She was cut off though, as a voice unfamiliar to her came from the entrance. "Beh?"

"Hm..?" Amu turned around in her chair, her eyes widening as she looked who was standing right outside the door. "Eh!? Ikuto..?"

"Yo." He waved. "Long time no see, eh?"

"You got that right..." Tadase said, getting out of his chair. "Been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, by the way, I have someone I'd like you all to meet."

Amu just noticed the person standing next to him, someone she wasn't acquainted with.

"This is my father, Aruto."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you, Ikuto's told me a lot about the group of you." He seemed to smile when he looked at Tadase and Amu. "Some more than others, though."

"_I don't really want to know what Ikuto told him about me..." _Amu thought, remembering all of the trouble the cat boy had caused her. _"Sigh..." _

"You should come and sit, both of you." Kairi called. "We have a few more seats laying around."

"I think we might just do that." Aruto replied, motioning for Ikuto to follow.

"Now _everyone's _back. We're all a complete brigade-er something." Nagi sipped on his tea a bit more.

"Heh, we're together again..."

"_We're all complete at last..."_

**END**_  
_

**(There it is, the final chapter on The Return of The Samurai. I want to thank all of you guys who took the time to read, comment, and support this story, since this was my very first fanfic, I had no idea of what to expect, and the response that I got was way more than I ever expected. Thanks to all of you who followed and favorited this story, and even those who didn't, but read up to this point. I honestly don't know how to thank you more, but, for the final time, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter of Return of The Samurai.)**


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